Navigate to your C drive and, at that point, click into the search field of Windows Explorer and type “CMD” it can also be lower case, click Enter.
HOW TO FORMAT FLASH DRIVE WINDOWS 10 PORTABLE
Given the flash drive was specifically designed to be portable and quick access, the above action is most certainly going to happen sooner or later, which makes UDF a high risk file system.Ĭonnect the USB to your computer and note the assigned drive letterīe sure any programs or data are not accessing the drive. You are flying the dark as to why the USB no longer works and there are no tools available to help you figure it out. This means if the USB is pulled out while in operation and a bit is affected by the action, there are no tools to check the file system for errors. Without bogging down this post with ultra-technical information, from the above list, the most important to consider is the first, lack of filesystem check tools. SD and USB mass storage devices are exposed to quick wear-leveling failure.64GB limit with Windows & Linux, a bug, not a limit of UDF.The lack of fully-functional filesystem check tools.So why not format a USB as UDF in Windows? Here is a list: The truth here is exFAT will do just the same.
If we take out the hope of formatting a USB with a UDF file system, some may feel the Universal Disk Format means the flash drive will work in anything, such as from Windows, to Mac, to Linux, Symbian and/or to proprietary system. It, UDF, is most widely used for DVDs and newer optical disc formats, can be used on flash drives, but does make it operate like one. Microsoft just doesn’t want you to do it and there are good reasons why.īefore the reasons given for not using UDF as a format on flash drives, let’s clear one thing up: If you think formatting a flash drive as UDF will make the thumb drive appear as an optical drive in the computer – you are mistaken!įrom the Wikipedia page about Universal Disk Format, UDF, the specification is governed by the Optical Storage Technology Association and because of that, many believe a UDF anything will work like a disc. The file system types listed by the Windows GUI (Graphical User Interface) will depend on the GB capacity of the flash drive connected.įirst, let me say it IS possible for Windows to format a flash drive as UDF (Universal Disk Format). Windows will also list NTFS for a flash drive, but not the best for a USB stick, as mentioned before. The proper file systems for a flash drive would be: FAT, FAT32 or exFAT.
When trying to format a flash drive in Windows (7 or 10) you will see the file system options best suited for the device. Rich Gates ApUSB Hacks, USB News, USB Tutorials After a little while, the formatting process will end and you just need to restart the computer.How To Format a Flash Drive as UDF (Windows 7 & 10 Solution) After selection of the flash disk - type the following command: “format fs = FAT32 quick”. A new window will appear here you need to enter "Diskpart".
The old and familiar command line is always at your service.Īfter you connect the external media (USB flash drive) to the computer, right-click Start. Format USB drive into FAT32 with Command Line If you desire to format and external drive in FAT32 for Windows 10, we propose you to use one of the following methods. Any operating system is fully compatible with FAT32. Most manufacturers do not neglect it and use this file system first in their devices. It is multifaceted, universal, easy to use and is still popular today, especially in mobile gadgets. The file system FAT32 is essentially the great-grandfather of other file systems.