How to Format a Bootable USB Drive in Windows 10

Updated By

Linda 

Written By

Linda 

Last Updated on April 22, 2024

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"Hello, I'm planning to format a bootable USB drive on Windows 10, but strangely, it's currently showing only a few MB of capacity. It should be 4GB in total. How can I properly format this bootable USB drive and restore its full capacity?"

Solution 1: Format the bootable USB drive with Partition Master Tool

AOMEI Partition Assistant is a free partition manager software that allows users to have full control over their hard disk storage. It also serves as a reliable free USB formatter that can help you format bootable USB drives, memory cards, flash drives, and other HDD storage devices quickly and easily without losing their original size.

Download and install the Partition Master tool on your Windows computer, and then follow these steps to easily format your storage device.

Step 1: Launch Partition Master, right-click on the partition of the external hard drive/USB/SD card that you want to format and choose “Format”.

Step 2: Specify a new partition label, file system (NTFS/FAT32/EXT2/EXT3/EXT4/exFAT), and cluster size for the selected disk partition, then click OK.

(3) Click [Yes] in the warning dialog to continue.

Step 4. Hit the “Run 1 Task” button on the top left to review the changes and click on “Apply” to start formatting the external hard drive/USB/SD card.

Here's a guide that teaches users how to format a bootable USB flash drive using specialized formatting tools, Disk Management, File Explorer, and CMD, with the encoding format set to utf-8: Title: A Comprehensive Guide to Formatting a Bootable USB Flash Drive Introduction: Formatting a bootable USB flash drive is a crucial step when preparing it for various purposes, such as installing an operating system or carrying portable applications. This guide will walk you through the process of formatting your USB drive using different methods, including specialized tools, Windows' built-in utilities, and the Command Prompt. Make sure to back up any important data before proceeding. 1. Using Specialized Formatting Tools: There are several third-party tools available that simplify the process of formatting a bootable USB drive. One popular option is Rufus, which supports various file systems and can create bootable media from ISO images. Steps: 1. Download Rufus from the official website (https://rufus.ie/). 2. Connect your USB drive to your computer. 3. Launch Rufus and ensure the correct drive letter is selected under "Device." 4. Choose the appropriate settings, such as file system (usually FAT32 for compatibility) and partition scheme (MBR for most systems). 5. Click "Select" to choose the ISO image you want to make bootable. 6. Finally, click "Start" and confirm the warning message to begin the formatting process. 2. Using Disk Management: Windows' built-in Disk Management utility can also format your USB drive. Steps: 1. Connect your USB drive to your computer. 2. Press Windows key + X, then select "Disk Management." 3. Locate your USB drive in the list of disks, usually labeled as "Removable." 4. Right-click on the drive and select "Format." 5. Choose the file system (FAT32, NTFS, or exFAT, depending on your needs), allocation unit size (default is fine), and give it a volume label if desired. 6. Check the "Quick Format" box and click "OK" to start the formatting process. 3. Using File Explorer: For simple formatting tasks, you can use Windows File Explorer. Steps: 1. Connect your USB drive to your computer. 2. Open File Explorer and locate the USB drive in the left pane. 3. Right-click on the drive and select "Format." 4. Choose the file system (FAT32, NTFS, or exFAT), allocation unit size (default is fine), and give it a volume label if desired. 5. Uncheck the "Quick Format" box (if creating a bootable drive), then click "Start." 6. Confirm the warning message to proceed with formatting. 4. Using Command Prompt: For advanced users, formatting can be done via the Command Prompt. Steps: 1. Connect your USB drive to your computer. 2. Open Command Prompt as an administrator (press Windows key + X, then select "Command Prompt (Admin).") 3. Identify your USB drive's letter by running "diskpart" followed by "list disk." Note the number assigned to your USB drive. 4. Type "select disk [number]," replacing [number] with the identified number. 5. Run "clean" to erase all data. 6. For FAT32: "create partition primary" followed by "format fs=fat32 quick." 7. For NTFS: "create partition primary" followed by "format fs=ntfs quick." 8. Type "assign" to assign a drive letter, then "exit" to close DiskPart and Command Prompt. Conclusion: With these methods, you should now be able to format your bootable USB flash drive according to your needs. Remember to exercise caution, as formatting will permanently delete all data on the drive.

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How to Format a Bootable USB Drive [4 Safe Ways]

This article introduces 4 easy ways to format a bootable USB flash drive on your computer. Read More>>

Solution 2: How to Format a Bootable USB Flash Drive in Windows 10 via Disk Management

On Windows, you can use two bootable USB drive formatting tools: Disk Management and Command Prompt. It introduces how to use Disk Management to address the issue of how to format a bootable USB in Windows 10.

First, connect the bootable USB drive to your PC while it's running Windows. Next, press "Windows + R" to open the Run window, and select Disk Management. Right-click on the bootable drive and choose "Format."

How to Boot Windows 10 from USB

If you want to install Windows or run the same OS on different devices, follow this guide to create a bootable USB and boot Windows 10 from USB flash drive.

Solution 3: Format the bootable USB drive with the Diskpart command

Using the `diskpart` command to format your USB drive is also very useful, especially if you're comfortable with using the Command Prompt.

Step 1: Press the "Windows key + R" at the same time. Type in cmd in the search box, then open the "Command Prompt."

Step 2: Type diskpart and hit Enter to launch the Diskpart utility.

Step 3: Type list disk.

Step 4: Type select disk 0 (or disk 1… the number represents the bootable USB drive you're about to format).

Step 5: Type clean.

Step 6: Type create partition primary.

Step 7: Open 'My Computer' or 'This PC' (Windows 10), right-click on the bootable USB drive, and select the 'Format' option to format it.

Either of these methods should successfully format your bootable USB drive and return it to its original state.

You can also watch the video below for a detailed walkthrough of using CMD to format a USB:

Appendix A: How to Create a Bootable USB Drive

When it comes to creating a bootable drive, some of you may focus on two objectives to accomplish the creation process. One is to adjust partition size, and the other is to help you recover when your Windows system becomes corrupted or fails to boot. The guide below applies if you want to resize partitions with Partition Master. If you plan to deploy the Windows system, refer to the guide on how to create a bootable disk instead.

Step 1. To create a bootable Partition Master tool disk, you will need a storage medium like a USB drive, a flash drive, or a CD/DVD disc. Connect the drive correctly to your computer.

Step 2: Launch Partition Master and find the “Bootable Media” feature on the left side. Click it.

Step 3. If your drive is accessible, you can choose between USB or CD/DVD. However, if you don't have a storage device at hand, you can also save the ISO file to your local drive and burn it to media later. After making your choice, click on "Create" to start the process.

• Read the warning, and then click Yes.

Step 4: When it's done, you'll see a pop-up asking whether you want to reboot your computer from the bootable USB drive.

• Boot now: You want to restart your computer immediately, bypassing the operating system and booting from the disk partition manager on the live media.
• Finish: You do not want to restart this computer but instead use the bootable USB device on another computer.

Note: To boot from the USB drive on a new computer, you will need to restart the target computer and press F2/F8/Del to enter the BIOS, then set the USB bootable disk as the first boot device.

Wait patiently as your computer will boot from the USB boot media and load the WinPE tool desktop automatically.

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Final Award

On this page, we collect 3 effective ways to help you format a bootable USB back to normal so that you can use it to store files and transfer data as usual. Among the 3 methods, the tool provided by Partition Master offers the easiest formatting solution for Windows beginners.

If you need a simple guide to make a bootable USB work as a normal USB drive to save files, turn to Partition Master for help.

Frequently Asked Questions About Formatting a Bootable USB for Windows 10

For more questions about formatting a bootable USB drive on a Windows computer, see the answers below:

1. What should the format of the Windows 10 bootable USB be?

For a bootable Windows 10 USB drive, the best format is FAT32, since the Windows system requires the USB drive to be formatted as FAT32.

How do I format a bootable USB drive?

Connect the bootable USB to your Windows 10 computer. Launch Partition Master, then right-click on the bootable USB. Select "Format," and set the USB drive to FAT32 (32GB or smaller) or exFAT (64GB or larger). Click "OK" and "Execute Task."

3. Should I use FAT32 or NTFS for my Windows 10 bootable USB?

When planning to create a bootable Windows 10 USB drive, you need to format the file system as FAT32 because modern UEFI-based hardware requires FAT32 for installing Windows 10.