5 Free Disk Formatting Tools for Windows and Mac

Updated by

Tracy King 

Last updated on April 22, 2024

The main points about a free disk formatting tool:

It is important to back up any important information on the disk before formatting it.

This page offers you the top 5 free disk formatting tools, from which you can choose any one to format your disk.

Are you looking for a free formatting solution to help you format any kind of storage device successfully on your Windows or Mac computer? That's what this guide is all about. Next, we'll show you how to pick a free disk formatting tool to perform disk formatting effortlessly. Let's get started.

How to format my hard drive for free? Top 5 recommended free disk formatting tools

So, how do I format my hard drive for free? Here's a list of free disk formatting tools you can choose from based on your needs to efficiently format hard drive partitions on Windows and Mac computers:

• #1. Partition Master Tool
• #2. File Explorer
• #3. Disk Management
• #4. Command Prompt
• #5. Disk Utility

How to choose? First, check your operating system. Next, determine the file system format you want to use for your storage device. Finally, consult the table below to pick the best free disk formatting tool for the job:

As you can see from the table, Partition Master, File Explorer, Disk Management, and CMD are all free disk formatting tools designed for Windows, while Disk Utility works for Mac computers. So now you should know which one to choose to format or reformat hard drive.

How do I use a disk formatting tool to format my drive? Follow the appropriate guide below:

#1. Format a disk using Partition Master Free

Applies to: All Windows beginners

With the free partition tool – tools Partition Master Free, you can easily change file system of a disk to other format with only several mouse clicks.

Moreover, this software lets you convert the disk file system from NTFS to FAT32 without formatting. For more details, refer to: How to convert NTFS to FAT32 or how to convert FAT32 to NTFS.

Here's how to format your hard drive with a disk formatting utility:

Step 1: Run Partition Master and right click the hard drive partition you want to format and choose “Format”.

Step 2. In the newly popped-up window, set "Volume label", "File system (NTFS/FAT32/EXT2/EXT3/EXT4/exFAT)" and "Cluster size", then click "OK".

Step 3: You'll see a warning; click “Yes” to proceed.

4. Click the “Execute 1 Task(s)” button to check over the changes, then click “Apply” to begin formatting the partition.

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#PC Hard Drive Formatting Tool#Windows Disk Formatting Tool#Free#Windows Operating System

You may also like: Top 5 Free Disk Formatter Software for Download.

#2. Format the hard drive using File Explorer

Applies to: All Windows users

If your hard drive is partitioned and you need to quickly clear off any existing data on the target drive, you can use the Windows File Explorer to help:

1. Press the Windows+E keys to open File Explorer on your computer.

< strong > Step 2. < /strong> Right-click on the target hard drive partition that you want to format and choose “Format”.

Step 3. Change the drive label, select a new file system format – NTFS, exFAT, or FAT32 – and check “Quick Format.”

Step 4: Click “Start” to format the selected drive. When finished, click “OK.”

If your hard drive contains multiple partitions, repeat these steps for each existing volume on the target disk.

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#Windows Format Tool#Disk Formatter#Free#Windows OS

#3. Using Disk Management to Format Hard Disk Drives

Applies to: Experienced Windows users.

Disk Management is a built-in utility in Windows that offers disk partitioning, expansion, shrinkage, formatting, and even disk conversion features to a large number of users around the world. Users can also utilize this tool to format hard drive partitions for free. Here's how:

Step 1: Right-click the Windows icon, select “Search,” type “Create and format hard disk partitions,” and then click to open Disk Management.

Step 2: Right click the target hard drive partition in "Disk Management" and choose "Format..."

Step 3. Assign a new label to the drive and choose the file system: NTFS, FAT32, or exFAT. Check the box for “Quick format” and click “OK.”

Wait for that process to finish, then repeat these steps for any other existing partitions on the hard drive to clear all data from the disk.

If you don't see the Format option in Disk Management or if it's grayed out, don't worry. There's a troubleshooting guide that can help you:

How to Fix 'Format Volume' Greyed Out in Disk Management

If the format option is grayed out in Disk Management when you try to format a hard drive or new disk, don't panic! We offer you three practical solutions to fix the unavailability of the Format option in Disk Management on Windows.

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#Windows Disk Formatting Tool#Free Formatting Software#Windows Operating System

#4. Format a disk drive using CMD

Applies to: Windows professionals and administrators

CMD, also known as Command Prompt or Disk Part Command, is a tool that allows users to interact with the operating system through command-line instructions, particularly for performing disk partition operations. Apart from formatting disk partitions, administrators utilize this command-line utility to create volumes, convert disk types, and even for scripting purposes.

Here are the steps you can follow to format a hard drive partition using the command line:

Step 1. Right-click the Start menu and select “Run.” Type cmd into the Run dialog and open Command Prompt as an administrator.

Step 2: Type diskpart in the Command Prompt and press Enter to open Diskpart.

Step 3. Enter the following commands one by one, pressing Enter after each:

• list disk
• select disk * (replace * with the number of your USB drive)
• list volume
• select volume * (replace * with the number of your USB flash drive's volume)
• format fs=ntfs quick (you can also replace NTFS with FAT32 or exFAT)
• exit

The command prompt formatting command can also be used to format other types of storage devices, such as formatting a USB flash drive with CMD or formatting an SD card with CMD and a formatter.

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#CMD Formatting Tool#Windows Disk Formatting Tool#Free

#5. Format Your Mac's Hard Drive for Free with Disk Utility

Applies to: All Mac users.

Disk Utility is a disk management tool generated by Apple for the Mac version, built into macOS to assist Mac users in managing disk partitions. Apart from creating and deleting partitions on a Mac computer, it also allows users to format disk partitions and change the file system for other purposes.

Here's how to format a Mac hard drive using Disk Utility:

Step 1: To open Finder, click “Go” and select “Applications.”

Step 2: Double-click the Utilities folder in the Applications folder, then double-click Disk Utility.

Step 3: Select your target drive on the left, then click the Erase button at the top.

Step 4. Then assign a new label and format for your drive.

Click “Clean up” to format the selected hard drive partition.

In addition to formatting hard drives, Disk Utility can also help you change the format of external storage devices, such as how to format USB flash drive to FAT32 on Mac.

"Free Disk Format Utility" refers to a free disk formatting tool. It is a software program that enables users to format computer hard drives, USB drives, or other storage devices at no cost. This is done to erase data, fix errors, or change the file system format. With this utility, users can choose from various formatting options such as FAT, FAT32, NTFS, exFAT, and perform either quick or full formatting operations.

Before we proceed, let's understand what a disk formatter is. A disk formatter is defined as a hard drive format tool or disk formatting software that allows users to format their hard drives, SSDs, external hard drives, USB drives, SD cards, and more, easily wiping out existing data in the process. Additionally, it lets users conveniently set the desired file system format on the target hard drive.

A free disk formatter, on the other hand, is a free hard drive formatting software or program that helps people quickly format storage devices and change the file system for free.

Conclusion

On this page, we list the 5 best free disk formatting tools to help both Windows and Mac users format their hard drives for free. For Windows beginners, you might prefer to use Partition Master or File Explorer as your formatting solution. For Mac users, Disk Utility should be your go-to option for disk formatting.

Frequently Asked Questions About Free Disk Formatting Tools

Those who still have doubt about free disk formatting tools can find the answers below.

1. Which tool can be used to format a drive in Windows?

In Windows, you can format a hard drive using File Explorer, Disk Management, or the Command Prompt. For beginners, File Explorer is probably the simplest formatting tool to use.

**2. What is the best free formatting software?**

Here are some of the best free formatting software options available to format disk drives on Windows and Mac computers:

• Partition Master Free
• HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool
• FAT32 Formatter
• HDD Low Level Format Tool
• Windows File Explorer
• Disk Management
• Command Prompt
• Disk Utility
• Terminal

For more detailed information about this formatting software, you can refer to this page: Top 9 Best Hard Drive Format Software.

3. How do I format my hard drive?

1. Open Disk Management, right-click on one of your hard drive partitions, and select "Format." 2. Assign it a new file system, then click "OK" to begin formatting the volume. 3. When that process is finished, right-click another volume on the drive and select "Format" once more. Set the new format and click "OK."

Repeat these steps for every existing partition on the hard drive. When you're done, you will have successfully formatted the entire disk.