"WD Quick Formatter Free Download and Comprehensive Review for 2024 [Pros & Cons]"

Updated by

Linda 

Written by

Tracy King 

Last updated on April 19, 2024

Quick Guide: Formatting WD Drives with the WD Quick Formatter Tool:

1. Launch the tool - Partition Master - as a substitute for the WD Quick Format Tool. 2. Right-click on the partition of the WD external hard drive and select the Format option. 3. Assign a new label, file system, and cluster size to the partition, then click OK. 4. Hit the Execute Task button and subsequently click Apply to commence formatting your WD hard drive.

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WD Quick Formatter: Everything You Need to Know About the WD Formatting Tool

What is the WD Quick Format Tool? The WD Quick Format Tool, also known as the WD Advanced Format Utility, is a tool that lets you format a WD external hard drive to NTFS, FAT32, and more on Windows 11/10/8/7 or other Windows versions.

What can WD Quick Formatter do for you?

Here's a list of features that most people like about the WD Quick Formatter:

- Recover from a corrupted hard drive when the WD drive is not recognized or inaccessible. - Resolve issues where Windows fails to format the WD external hard drive. - Change file system on the WD external hard drive. - Optimize drive performance, and so on.

Advantages and Disadvantages of WD Quick Formatter

So why do people prefer the WD Quick Format, and what are the drawbacks of the WD Advanced Format Tool? Well, there's a table right here that lists the pros and cons of the WD Quick Format, and you can take a look at that:

Regarding the WD Quick Formatter, reviews typically comment on its ease of use, efficiency in formatting Western Digital hard drives, and compatibility with various operating systems. Users appreciate its straightforward interface and the speed at which it can format drives, allowing for quick data wiping and preparation for reuse. Some reviewers also mention that it effectively resolves issues with slow performance or errors on their WD storage devices. However, occasional technical glitches or incompatibility with non-WD drives have been reported by a few users. Overall, WD Quick Formatter is generally seen as a reliable tool for formatting WD hard drives, particularly for those who need to reformat frequently.

Here, we list two pros and two cons for suggesting you go with the WD Quick Format, and why we don't particularly like it. Browse through them, and you might know if this helps you decide to download this WD formatting tool:

Due to the limitations of WD Quick Formatter, we recommend turning to a reliable third-party formatting tool that supports more storage devices. One of the tools you can trust is the tools Partition Master Free.

WD Quick Formatter and WD Format Tool - Partition Wizard Tools

Here is a comparison table where you can check out the differences between WD Quick Format tool and its alternative – AOMEI Partition Assistant.

In comparison, Partition Master offers more features in terms of formatting and optimizing disk performance. So how to download WD Quick Formatter for free, or get its alternatives to format WD and other brands' storage devices? Follow this guide, and you'll get the complete instructions.

Guide 1: Download WD Format Tool to Format WD External Hard Drive

Note that due to some errors, the WD Quick Format might fail to format a WD external hard drive. In this case, you need a reliable alternative tool for formatting an external hard drive - AOMEI Partition Assistant Free. Besides, this tool is totally free and supports more brands of storage devices than the WD Quick Format tool.

Many users have successfully formatted their disks in Windows 11/10/8/7 using this tool, while the WD external drive fails with the WD Quick Format Tool. Let's learn how to quickly format your WD external hard drive using this software:

- Right-click the external drive or USB you want to format, then click "Format." - Set the Volume label, File system (NTFS/FAT32/EXT2/EXT3/EXT4/exFAT), and Cluster size, then click "OK." - Click "Yes" to continue. - Click "Perform 1 task" and then click "Apply" to format the hard drive partition.

This utility also helps resolve the following issues with Western Digital storage devices:

Guide 2: Download WD Quick Formatter to Reformat WD External Hard Drive

The WD Quick Formatter is available for download from the Western Digital website. You can use this to fix an external hard drive that's “bricked,” or unresponsive. Symptoms of a bricked hard drive include the power light being on, but the drive not being recognized by your computer. You might also see one of the following error messages:

• You need to format the disk before using it.
• X: Access is denied.

How to download the WD Quick Format Tool? Official access:

Clicking on that link in your browser will give you download links for either Windows or Mac systems.

Here is the link: https://support-en.wd.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/16241/~/How-to-use-the-WD-Quick-Format-tool-to-format-an-external-hard-drive

The easiest way to do this is to format the external hard drive to access the drive. Use the WD Quick Formatter to format the external hard drive by following these steps:

Step 1: Connect your WD external hard drive to your Windows computer.

Step 2: On the welcome screen, tap “Continue” to go to the next screen.

Step 3. On the End User License Agreement page, click Accept.

Step 4. The WD Quick Format tool will now scan the WD external hard drive to be formatted.

If the drive will be used with a computer running Windows XP, select “XP Compatible.” This also applies to Windows 11/10/8/7. If the drive won't be used with a Windows OS, choose “Factory Default.” Once you've made your selection, click the drop-down menu and view/check any additional external drives from the list if they're connected to the system. When you're ready, click “Format Drive.”

5. After the formatting is done, you can click “Format Another Drive” to format another WD external hard drive or click “Exit” to quit the program.

Read also: How to Format WD My Passport for Mac and PC

For more solutions to format WD My Passport on Windows 10, please click the link:

How to Format WD My Passport on Windows 10 [4 Easy Ways]

If you have a WD My Passport hard drive and don't know how to format it on Windows 10, don't worry and keep reading this article. In this post, we will show you 4 quick and easy ways to format WD My Passport on Windows 10.

Conclusions

You can format the drive you need with WD Quick Formatter anytime. If the WD Quick Format cannot format the external hard drive, you can try an alternative to WD Quick Format – the best disk formatter - Partition Master tool. You can free and easily format HDD, SSD, SD card, or USB drive. Learn more in the following table.

Frequently Asked Questions About WD Format Tool

If you have more questions about the Western Digital formatting tool, you can refer to the frequently asked questions and answers below.

How do I check the firmware version on my WD drive?

You can find your firmware version by looking in the “Firmware” section of your device's web interface.

How do I format a WD external hard drive on a Mac?

Step 1. Connect your WD My Passport to your Mac.

Step 2: Once done, double-click on the “Mac HD” icon in the upper right corner of your desktop. From there, choose “Applications” > “Utilities” > “Disk Utility.”

Step 3: Select your WD My Passport from the sidebar, then click “Erase.”

Step 4: Give the drive a name, select “MS-DOS (FAT)” or “exFAT” from the “Format” dropdown, then click “Erase.”

How do I update the firmware on my WD device?

1. Select the current firmware and connect your computer to the Wi-Fi network of your My Passport Wireless. 2. Open the My Passport Wireless dashboard using a web browser. 3. Navigate to the "Firmware" tab. 4. Under the "Auto-Update" section. 5. A dialog box will appear asking to confirm the firmware upgrade; click "OK."

How do I format my WD external hard drive for Windows 11/10?

Step 1. Open File Explorer, locate the WD My Passport drive, right-click on it, and select “Format.”

Step 2: Rename the drive and format it to FAT32 or exFAT.

Step 3: Click "Start" to begin formatting.

Which is better, exFAT or NTFS?

NTFS is suitable for internal drives, while exFAT is usually better for flash drives. Neither has any real limit on file size or partition size. Choose the exFAT file system if your storage device is incompatible with the NTFS file system and you don't want to deal with the limitations of FAT32.