Format External Hard Drive

1. Format Drive For Mac And Windows
2. Format External Hard Drive Mac And Pc
3. Format External Hard Drive Windows 10
4. How To Format External Hard Drive For Mac
5. Format External Hard Drive-in Vista

Summary :

A drive can be used on any type of computer - PC or Mac. But in order for the computer and drive to communicate with one another, the drive has to be formatted with the correct file system. This article explains about file systems and provides instruction to format a drive on Windows and Mac.

Format Drive For Mac And Windows

If you are trying to access an external hard drive but are told that your external hard drive needs formatting, you are likely to find the best solutions here. MiniTool Power Data Recovery is the best way to recover data from not formatted hard drive. Then, you can format the hard drive without worrying.

• To format a hard drive means to erase any information on the drive and to set up a file system so your operating system can read data from, and write data to, the drive. You need to format a hard drive if you plan on using it in Windows. As complicated as that might sound, this isn't really difficult to do in any version of Windows.
• Right click on the external hard drive to format and click on 'Format'in the drop-down menu. Select 'NTFS' in the 'File system' box and then tick 'Perform a quick format'.

External hard drive is very useful when you want to copy large files between computers, or back up your important files like photos, videos, documents and other data. They typically have large capacities and can be connected to computer via USB port or FireWire.

External hard drives enjoy different forms, such as SSD, USB flash drive, Sony pen drive and so on, and vary a lot in their capacities from gigabytes to terabyte…However, you may see external USB hard drive not formatted error, saying you need to format the disk before you can use it; considering there are important files on the hard drive, you feel uneasy.

My Seagate External Hard Drive Shows Not Formatted

'So I have a Seagate 3TB External Hard Drive that all of a sudden tells me it needs to be formatted. I have 2.8 TB of files, pictures, videos and more on that drive with no backups of it anywhere. So basically, when it is plugged in, every 10 seconds or so it disappears and then reappears with this pop-up message: 'You need to format the disk in drive G: before you can use it. Do you want to format it?' Obviously I don't want to format it as that means I lose all my data…'

Phenomena: After you have plugged your external HD into a computer, you can't open it to access the files because the Windows pops up an error message which reads 'You need to format disk in drive before you can use it'OR 'The disk in drive X is not formatted' (appear in Windows XP).

It seems that such kind of data loss problem happens every day in our daily life. In fact, not formatted error not only happens on external hard drive, but also appears on almost all storage devices such as HDD, SSD, USB flash drive, pen drive, memory card and so on. When not formatted error happens on those devices, Disk management displays their file systems as RAW and users are unable to access the drive in Windows.

Facing such situation, what should you do? Are you going to format the hard drive as you are told? Next, we will tell you more about external hard drive needs formatting.

Why My External Hard Drive Keeps Asking Me to Format It

Before we go to the solutions, we would like to show you the reasons that may lead to this error. In this way, you can avoid the improper operations to your external hard drive OR prevent the terrible things from happening. Below are the possible factors for external hard drive not formatted:

1. File system is not recognized by Windows. For instance, file system is Ext 2/3/4.
2. The external hard drive suffers from sudden power outage when it is used to transfer files or something else;
3. The external hard drive is improperly pulled out or forced to pull out;
4. The external hard drive gets virus attack;
5. There are bad sectors in the external hard drive.
6. …

External Hard Drive Needs Formatting? Not Now!

When running into external hard drive not formatted error, most users have such misunderstanding: they think they have to take Windows' suggestion and have to format the hard drive without other solutions. Because in their minds, only when they can open the external hard drive, they are able to access files stored on the drive.

The reality? It is true that formatting may enable you to regain the access to the external hard drive, but have you ever think about the consequence once you have formatted the external hard drive? Yes you will find no files on the drive after formatting.

Therefore, for those who have no backups, keep this point in mind: DO NOT FORMAT your external hard drive before you take out the data in it. Formatting is a bad idea if the drive is failing, and that procedure means you will lost the file structure (folders, organization, file names…). As a matter of fact, the data in the external hard drive may get recovered as long as they are not overwritten. So remember the more changes you have made, the less chances you have for data recovery.

So how to fix the external hard drive not formatted error and recover data on the hard drive? Well, you need to use the software without altering the data on the drive or get it to someone who can help you out technically. And this article will show you what to do step-by-step.

Solutions to External Hard Drive Not Formatted

If you have not made a piece of backup, you'd better go ahead reading the following content. What should you do to recover data from not formatted hard drive without data backup?

You can try the following methods, maybe they will help you open your hard drive.

Solution 1. Try the Easy Things First

• Connect it to another USB port or another operating system and see if you can read the files.
• Take your chance to restart your computer and see if this way works for you.
• Run anti-virus software to check and kill possible virus on the external hard drive.

These may seem meaningless but sometimes they do help people get out of trouble. If no miracle happens, try the second solution.

Solution 2. Check Your Hard Drive for Errors

• At the Start button, click Run.
• Type 'cmd' into the blank and hit Enter key.
• Type 'chkdsk n:/f' (replace n with the true drive letter of the problematic partition) into the Command Prompt window and then press the Enter button.
• It will start repairing damaged files and you will see some of your filenames before it finally asks if you want to save lost chains into another location. Click 'Yes' just in case.

If CHKDSK can run this process normally, you can try again reading your external hard drive after restarting your computer. CHKDSK usually takes some time to fix the error, so please be patient. When it is finished, your external hard drive may become normal as before.

However, if you are unable to go through this process, and encounter the following message: the type of the file system is RAW, CHKDSK is not available for RAW drives, what should you do?

Any other tips for how to restore these files from not formatted external hard drive?

Solution 3. Recover Data from Not Formatted Hard Drive

If your external hard drive keeps asking you to format it after you have tried the above solution, you can download free MiniTool Power Data Recovery which is an excellent program that brings file recovery to Windows to have a try. This software works great on Windows 7/8/8.1/10, both 32 bit and 64 bit, and is able to recover the mainstream file types on audio, video, image, email, documents, etc. With this tool, you can easily get your inaccessible files out from unformatted hard drive (RAW drive).

MiniTool Power Data Recovery composes of four data recovery parts, and they are This PC, Removable Disk Drive, Hard Disk Drive, and CD/DVD Drive. Before you choose any part to begin, you can move the mouse over them to identify whether the external hard drive appears for you to perform data recovery.

Follow these steps to recover data from not formatted hard drive:

Step 1. Launch MiniTool Power Data Recovery, and then select 'This PC' as the RAW partition is shown there (shown as Unidentified). You should be able to identify the external hard drive which needs formatting, double-click on it.

Step 2. Then please wait for the scanning process to finish. The scanning time depends on the capacity of your data in it. When finished, Power Data Recovery will show you the files it has found in tree structure. At this time, you can check whether the files are the one you want.

Step 3. In this step you are expected to tick the files you want, click 'Save' and then choose a safe location (usually it is another hard drive) to store all data you have selected. However, the Trial Edition do not support file saving. At this time, you need to purchase a license from official MiniTool.

At the end of the process, you can format the external hard drive by using Disk Management or MiniTool Partition Wizard Free Edition. Both are OK to help format your external hard drive. Their differences are the latter one offers more flexible features and is more user-friendly.

Run 'diskmgmt.msc' to load Disk Management, then select the partition which needs formatting and choose 'Format' from the context menu. Just follow the guidance to finish. (See Also: Windows Was Unable to Complete the Format)

In Partition Wizard, you have more file system choices. Click on the partition of the external hard drive which needs formatting and then choose 'Format'. Select the file system you want and click 'Apply' finally.

Why Some Files Are Corrupt after the Recovery

Sometimes, you may find out that you are unable to access the recovered files from not formatted external hard drive and Windows tells they are corrupted. You may wonder how it is corrupted because the last time you open it, it is in sound condition.

Here, we would like to inform you that MiniTool Power Data Recovery can only help you recover the lost files with their original states, instead of changing anything on them such as repair the corrupted files or destroy the files. That is to say, if the files Power Data Recovery recovered are corrupted, they were corrupted before the recovery due to some certain reasons before your external hard drive requires formatting. In this case, if the files mean a lot to you, then it is better to find a reliable data repair service to help you out - which is normally a huge expense.

Bottom Line

In this article, we mainly focus on how to fix external hard drive that saying 'external hard drive needs formatting'. Also, you may run into pen drive not formatted error due to the similar reasons. The good news is that Power Data Recovery is possible to recover data in all kinds of hard drives including the pen drive.

All in all, if the data in it is meaningless or you have backups, format it directly. If not, you should recover data from not formatted hard drive or turn to the other solutions offered in this post before formatting. If you have any questions while using MiniTool software, don't hesitate to contact us via [email protected]. For any questions or suggestions, please leave us comments below, we read every thread.

External Hard Drive Needs Formatting FAQ

1. Use Disk Management: open Disk Management > select a partition of the external hard drive > choose Format from the context menu > follow the wizard to complete.
2. Use diskpart.exe: run diskpart as admin > type list volume and press Enter > type select volume n and press Enter > type format fs=ntfs quick and press Enter.
3. Use MiniTool Partition Wizard: select a partition of the external hard drive and choose Format > choose a file system > click OK and Apply.

The best disk format tool in 2021 comes out. They are third-party EaseUS format tool, HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool, HDD Low Level Format Tool and the built-in HDD formatter like File Explorer, Disk Management and CMD in Windows 10/8/7. Choose one of the six to format a disk, HDD, SSD, USB flash, pen drive, and SD card with ease.

Best Hard Drive Format Tool in 2021

1. 1. EaseUS Partition Master Format Tool
2. 2. HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool
3. 3. HDD Low Level Format Tool
4. 4. Windows File Explorer
5. 5. Windows Disk Management
6. 6. Windows Command Prompt (CMD)

Each hard disk format tool in the list can be used to format any drive in Windows 10/8/7/XP/Vista and Windows Server operating system. Some of them are free to use, while some are for commercial use. Next, you'll learn the details of the product description, advantages and disadvantages.

*Back up Data Before Formatting a Disk*

In general terms, we format a disk using the quick format, which erases data completely but the data is recoverable by some third-party data recovery software. The other disk formatting manner is called low-level format, which erases the whole disk surface and makes data restoration impossible!

No matter which way you'll need to format a disk, to protect important data from completely erasing, always create a backup in advance.

1. Method 1. Open the target hard drive and manually copy useful files and documents to another device.
2. Method 2. Use Windows backup software to automatically back up the whole disk/partition or target files and folders to another device at one time.

#1. EaseUS Partition Master - Best Hard Disk Formatting software, free download for PC

• Supported file system: NTFS, FAT16, FAT32, EXT2, EXT3, and EXT4
• User interface: simple, graphical, clean and user-friendly to beginners

EaseUS Partition Master Free is an all-around disk & partition management tool that includes but not limited to a disk formatting feature. It's placed on the top position of the best hard drive format tool due to the facts of the following:

Pros:

• Free to download and format a disk
• Support all Windows operating systems and servers
• Format a drive that is RAW, not showing up or not recognized by Windows
• Format a disk even when the Windows was unable to complete the format
• Allow you to create a bootable hard drive format tool
• Format 64/128/256GB USB hard drive to the FAT32 file system
• Convert FAT32 to NTFS without formatting or losing data
• Build with other powerful features: resize, move, create, merge, delete, wipe, or recover lost partition

Cons:

• Some advanced features are not free, such as migrate OS to SSD

Guide - How to format a disk with EaseUS format tool:

Step 1: Run EaseUS Partition Master, right-click the hard drive partition you intend to format and choose 'Format'.

Step 2: In the new window, set the Partition label, File system (NTFS/FAT32/EXT2/EXT3), and Cluster size for the partition to be formatted, then click 'OK'.

Step 3: Then you will see a warning window, click 'OK' in it to continue.

Step 4: Click the 'Execute Operation' button in the top-left corner to review the changes, then click 'Apply' to start formatting the partition on your hard drive.

#2. HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool - Windows XP Disk Formatter

• Supported file system: FAT, FAT32, and NTFS
• User interface: kind of outdated but relatively easy-to-use

HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool is a Windows-based disk format utility to format any drive. It should work on all the older and newer Windows OS versions, but viewing from the formatting speed and performance, it stands out on usually the Windows XP operating system. With HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool, you can format any USB Flash drive, hard drive, or memory card in FAT, FAT32, and NTFS file systems. Moreover, create DOS startup disks that can help boot a PC after it dies.

Pros:

• It is best used on USB drives and it strips and re-formats your drives
• The GUI is very familiar because it looks just like the Windows XP formatting tool

Cons:

• It may cause crashes on modern computers with newer operating systems
• It needs you to run it under Administrator

Guide - How to format a hard drive with HP Disk Storage Format Tool

Step 1. Connect the USB drive to your Windows XP computer, click Devices and select the USB drive you want to format.

Step 2. From the File System menu, select a file system and enter a name for the reformatted disk in the Volume Label input box.

Step 3. Click the Quick Format option to enable a quick format. If you leave this option unchecked, a slower, low-level format will be performed.

Step 4. Click Start to begin the USB formatting.

#3. HDD LLF Low Level Format Tool - Best Low-level Hard Disk Drive Formatting Software

• Supported operating system: Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, and Windows Server 2003, 2008, 2008R2
• User interface: kind of outdated and complex to use

HDD Low Level Format Tool is a utility exclusively designed for low-level hard disk drive formatting. After running this low level format tool, the whole disk surface will be erased. As a result, data restoration is impossible after using this utility! This HDD Low Level Format utility is free for personal/home use, but the speed is restricted at 80GB per hour, which is 50 MB/s.

Pros:

The only disk format tool for a low level format

Cons:

Here, we would like to inform you that MiniTool Power Data Recovery can only help you recover the lost files with their original states, instead of changing anything on them such as repair the corrupted files or destroy the files. That is to say, if the files Power Data Recovery recovered are corrupted, they were corrupted before the recovery due to some certain reasons before your external hard drive requires formatting. In this case, if the files mean a lot to you, then it is better to find a reliable data repair service to help you out - which is normally a huge expense.

Bottom Line

In this article, we mainly focus on how to fix external hard drive that saying 'external hard drive needs formatting'. Also, you may run into pen drive not formatted error due to the similar reasons. The good news is that Power Data Recovery is possible to recover data in all kinds of hard drives including the pen drive.

All in all, if the data in it is meaningless or you have backups, format it directly. If not, you should recover data from not formatted hard drive or turn to the other solutions offered in this post before formatting. If you have any questions while using MiniTool software, don't hesitate to contact us via [email protected]. For any questions or suggestions, please leave us comments below, we read every thread.

External Hard Drive Needs Formatting FAQ

1. Use Disk Management: open Disk Management > select a partition of the external hard drive > choose Format from the context menu > follow the wizard to complete.
2. Use diskpart.exe: run diskpart as admin > type list volume and press Enter > type select volume n and press Enter > type format fs=ntfs quick and press Enter.
3. Use MiniTool Partition Wizard: select a partition of the external hard drive and choose Format > choose a file system > click OK and Apply.

The best disk format tool in 2021 comes out. They are third-party EaseUS format tool, HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool, HDD Low Level Format Tool and the built-in HDD formatter like File Explorer, Disk Management and CMD in Windows 10/8/7. Choose one of the six to format a disk, HDD, SSD, USB flash, pen drive, and SD card with ease.

Best Hard Drive Format Tool in 2021

1. 1. EaseUS Partition Master Format Tool
2. 2. HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool
3. 3. HDD Low Level Format Tool
4. 4. Windows File Explorer
5. 5. Windows Disk Management
6. 6. Windows Command Prompt (CMD)

Each hard disk format tool in the list can be used to format any drive in Windows 10/8/7/XP/Vista and Windows Server operating system. Some of them are free to use, while some are for commercial use. Next, you'll learn the details of the product description, advantages and disadvantages.

*Back up Data Before Formatting a Disk*

In general terms, we format a disk using the quick format, which erases data completely but the data is recoverable by some third-party data recovery software. The other disk formatting manner is called low-level format, which erases the whole disk surface and makes data restoration impossible!

No matter which way you'll need to format a disk, to protect important data from completely erasing, always create a backup in advance.

1. Method 1. Open the target hard drive and manually copy useful files and documents to another device.
2. Method 2. Use Windows backup software to automatically back up the whole disk/partition or target files and folders to another device at one time.

#1. EaseUS Partition Master - Best Hard Disk Formatting software, free download for PC

• Supported file system: NTFS, FAT16, FAT32, EXT2, EXT3, and EXT4
• User interface: simple, graphical, clean and user-friendly to beginners

EaseUS Partition Master Free is an all-around disk & partition management tool that includes but not limited to a disk formatting feature. It's placed on the top position of the best hard drive format tool due to the facts of the following:

Pros:

• Free to download and format a disk
• Support all Windows operating systems and servers
• Format a drive that is RAW, not showing up or not recognized by Windows
• Format a disk even when the Windows was unable to complete the format
• Allow you to create a bootable hard drive format tool
• Format 64/128/256GB USB hard drive to the FAT32 file system
• Convert FAT32 to NTFS without formatting or losing data
• Build with other powerful features: resize, move, create, merge, delete, wipe, or recover lost partition

Cons:

• Some advanced features are not free, such as migrate OS to SSD

Guide - How to format a disk with EaseUS format tool:

Step 1: Run EaseUS Partition Master, right-click the hard drive partition you intend to format and choose 'Format'.

Step 2: In the new window, set the Partition label, File system (NTFS/FAT32/EXT2/EXT3), and Cluster size for the partition to be formatted, then click 'OK'.

Step 3: Then you will see a warning window, click 'OK' in it to continue.

Step 4: Click the 'Execute Operation' button in the top-left corner to review the changes, then click 'Apply' to start formatting the partition on your hard drive.

#2. HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool - Windows XP Disk Formatter

• Supported file system: FAT, FAT32, and NTFS
• User interface: kind of outdated but relatively easy-to-use

HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool is a Windows-based disk format utility to format any drive. It should work on all the older and newer Windows OS versions, but viewing from the formatting speed and performance, it stands out on usually the Windows XP operating system. With HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool, you can format any USB Flash drive, hard drive, or memory card in FAT, FAT32, and NTFS file systems. Moreover, create DOS startup disks that can help boot a PC after it dies.

Pros:

• It is best used on USB drives and it strips and re-formats your drives
• The GUI is very familiar because it looks just like the Windows XP formatting tool

Cons:

• It may cause crashes on modern computers with newer operating systems
• It needs you to run it under Administrator

Guide - How to format a hard drive with HP Disk Storage Format Tool

Step 1. Connect the USB drive to your Windows XP computer, click Devices and select the USB drive you want to format.

Step 2. From the File System menu, select a file system and enter a name for the reformatted disk in the Volume Label input box.

Step 3. Click the Quick Format option to enable a quick format. If you leave this option unchecked, a slower, low-level format will be performed.

Step 4. Click Start to begin the USB formatting.

#3. HDD LLF Low Level Format Tool - Best Low-level Hard Disk Drive Formatting Software

• Supported operating system: Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, and Windows Server 2003, 2008, 2008R2
• User interface: kind of outdated and complex to use

HDD Low Level Format Tool is a utility exclusively designed for low-level hard disk drive formatting. After running this low level format tool, the whole disk surface will be erased. As a result, data restoration is impossible after using this utility! This HDD Low Level Format utility is free for personal/home use, but the speed is restricted at 80GB per hour, which is 50 MB/s.

Pros:

The only disk format tool for a low level format

Cons:

Almost paid software. Personal license without speed limit is $3.30 while the commercial license is $27.00 per seat (PC)

Guide - How to format a disk with HDD Low Level Format Tool:

Step 1. Download and run HDD LLF Low Level Format Tool on your computer.

Step 2. Plug your HDD or USB drive into the computer and launch the low-level format tool.

Step 3. Select the desired drive and click Continue. Confirm the option by clicking Yes.

Step 4. Select Low-Level Format in the tab to start the low-level formatting process.

#4. Windows File Explorer - The Simplest Drive Formatting Option in Windows 10/8/7

• Supported operating system: NTFS, exFAT and FAT32
• User interface: Simple design and operation throughout the formatting procedure

It's the first native Windows disk formatting choice we'll introduce. Press Windows + E keys so we can easily evoke the File Explorer. The local disk drives and the externally connected drives will appear there. As long as the drive you tend to format is visible, you can use the Format option to start a quick format with a few simple steps.

Pros:

• Free
• Works on all Windows computers
• Applies to Windows beginners
• 3-step formatting

Format External Hard Drive Mac And Pc

Cons:

• Doesn't work when the hard drive is not showing up
• FAT32 is not available for a storage drive over 32GB

Guide - How to Format a Hard Drive in File Explorer

Step 1. Open Windows File Explorer, locate and right-click on the target hard drive which you need to format, select 'Format'.

Step 2. Rename the hard drive, reset its file system to NTFS or other formats.

Step 3. Click 'Start' to begin the formatting.

#5. Windows Disk Management - Free Built-in Disk Formatter for Advanced Use

• Supported operating system: NTFS, exFAT and FAT32
• User interface: Designed with a couple of useful disk management features in the clean organization

Windows Disk Management is a free Windows built-in tool, which means you can easily open it on your computer without downloading. It comes to use when you're trying to format a drive that is not showing up in the File Explorer. It's good at formatting some storage devices that have something wrong, like file system corruption, not formatted error, not accessible, etc.

Pros:

• Free
• Available to all Windows operating system
• Be able to format a RAW drive

Cons

• Doesn't support to format a Linux drive
• FAT32 is not available for a storage drive over 32GB

Guide - How to Format a Hard Drive Partition in Disk Management

Step 1. Right-click 'This PC' and choose 'Manage'.

Step 2. Go to 'Disk Management'.

Step 3. Right-click the target hard drive partition and choose 'Format'.

Step 4. Set the volume label, file system and click 'OK' to start formatting the drive.

#6. Windows Command Prompt - The Most Capable Built-in Formatting Tool for Professionals

• Supported file system: NTFS, FAT16, FAT32, EXT2, EXT3, and EXT4
• User interface: Very unfamiliar to beginners

Windows Command Prompt, for average computer users, is a hidden but powerful computer troubleshooting program that is able to solve most of the computer and hard drive problems. You can apply a variety of command lines to examine, check or repair computer issues. For example, to format a disk drive, you'll use the diskpart command lines.

Pros:

• Free
• Format any drive to every file system that is available to use on Windows, macOS or Linux

Cons:

• Applies to experienced users only
• Any false operation will cause serious computer problems

Guide - How to Format a Hard Drive with DiskPart command

Step 1. Open Command Prompt by right-clicking on Windows icon, select 'Search' and type: command prompt.

Right-click on Command Prompt and select 'Run as administrator'.

Step 2. Type diskpart in Command Prompt and hit Enter.

Format External Hard Drive Windows 10

Step 3. Hit Enter each time when you type below command lines in DiskPart to quick format hard drive:

• list disk
• select disk 2(Replace 2 with your disk number)
• list volume
• select volume 10(Replace 10 with the volume number of the partition that you want to format)
• format fs=ntfs quick (If you need to format a hard drive partition to FAT32 or other file systems, replace ntfs with fat32, exfat, etc.)

Step 4. Type exit and hit Enter to close the program when DiskPart reports it has successfully formatted the volume.

Conclusion: What To Do with Hard Drive After Formatting

How To Format External Hard Drive For Mac

Some of you may have the same question about what to do after formatting the hard drive. Here is a list that you can follow to make full use of your formatted hard drive:

# 1. Re-partition hard drive to make full use of space on your hard drive.

To do so, you may need a reliable partition management tool like EaseUS Partition Master Free to partition hard drive on your computer for free. You may also use this tool to merge partitions or extend hard drive partition based on your needs.

# 2. Save files to the formatted hard drive.

Format External Hard Drive-in Vista

# 3. Recover lost files due to formatting.

If you didn't back up data before formatting and lost valuable files, you may apply professional data recovery software to recover data after formatting.