Formatting a drive, whether it be a hard disk drive, solid state drive, or a flash drive et cetera, is the process of preparing the partition on the drive to be used by the operating system. If the drive is already in use, it will need to delete all the files and data before setting up a new file system.

You always need to format a hard drive before you can use it in Windows. As complicated as the process of formatting is for the operating system, it’s rather easy to carry out as a user.

Note: the amount of time that it will take to format the drive will vary depending on the size of the drive. The quality of computer can play a role in how quickly the drive is able to format, too.

The following tutorial demonstrates how to format a disk or drive when you’re using a version of the Windows 10 operating system.

Method One: How to Format Disk or Drive in This PC

Here is how you can format a disk or drive from This PC in File Explorer by using the disk or drive’s context menu in Windows:

1 a. Open File Explorer and click on “This PC” from the navigation pane.

1 b. Right-click on the drive that you want to format and then click on “Format” from the context menu.

OR

1 a. Open File Explorer and click on this “This PC” from the navigation pane.

1 b. Click once on the drive to select it and, click on “Manage” from the ribbon and then click on “Format.”

2. Under where it says File system, choose the file system you want to use for the drive. If unsure, keep the default file system selected.

3. Under where it says Allocation unit size, choose the number of bytes, aka the cluster size, that you want to use for the drive. If unsure, keep the default allocation size selected.

4. Under where it says Volume label, type in the name you want to use for the volume label.

5. Under where it says format options, check or uncheck the “Quick Format” option.
Deselecting this option will mean you get the full format instead of the quick format. Read more: What is the difference between a quick format and a full format?

6. Click on “Start” when you want to begin formatting the drive.

Method Two: How to Format Disk or Drive in Disk Management

Here is how you can format a disk or drive by using Disk Management in Windows:

Notes

  • You must be logged in as an administrator to complete this option.
  • This method allows for you to enable file and folder compression.

There are two ways you can log in with an administrator’s account on a Windows 10 computer: either by a) using your Windows account that already has the administrator privileges or b) logging in to someone else’s account that has the administrator privileges. The account that was created first is automatically assigned the administrator privileges and it can pass it on to other accounts; other administrator accounts can also remove the administrator privileges from the original account.

1. Open the Power User menu by right-clicking on Start, or by pressing the Windows logo + X keys on your keyboard.

2. Click on “Disk Management” from the Power User menu.

3. From the Disk Management window (pictured below), right-click on the drive that you want to format and then click on “Format” from its context menu.

4. Next to where it says Volume label, type a name for the formatted volume.

5. Next to where it says File system, choose the type of file system that you want to use for the new volume. If unsure, keep it on its default setting.

6. Next to where it says Allocation unit size, choose the number of bytes you want to be allocated to the new volume. If unsure, keep it on its default setting.

7. Check or uncheck the box next to where it says Perform a quick format.
Deselecting this option will mean you get the full format instead of the quick format. Read more: What is the difference between a quick format and a full format?

8. Check or uncheck the box next to where it says Enable file and folder compression.
Checking this option will mean it compresses the new volume so it takes up less space; however, there are some disadvantages to file compression. See also: Should I Use Windows File Compression?

Method Three: How to Format Disk or Drive in Command Prompt

You can format a disk or drive from the Command Prompt in Windows.

Note: You need to be logged in as an administrator to compete this option.

1. Open the elevated Command Prompt window.

2. In the command line, type the following commands, one at a time, and press the “Enter” key on your keyboard after each:

diskpart

list volume

select volume <volume number>

Note: Change where it says “<volume number>” for the volume number you want to use as it is listed in the Command Prompt. For example, select volume 4

3. To format, type one of the following two commands into the command line, depending if you want to do a quick or full format, and press the “Enter” key on your keyboards:

To Quick Format:

format fs=<FileSystemType> label="<VolumeLabel>" quick

To Full Format:

format fs=<FileSystemType> label="<VolumeLabel>"

Note: Change where it says “<FileSystemType>” for the file system you want to use and where it says “<Label>” for the volume name you would like to use. For example, format fs=ntfs label="Razer Blade HDD" quick

Method Four: How to Format Disk or Drive in PowerShell

You can format a disk or drive from Windows PowerShell in Windows.

Notes

You need to be logged in as an administrator to use this option.

You can use the “Format-Volume” command in Windows PowerShell to view more usage options. Read more: Format-Volume | Microsoft.com 

1. Open the elevated Windows PowerShell window.

2. Type the following command into the PowerShell window and then press “Enter” on your keyboard:

Get-Volume

3. Find the volume letter that you want to format by checking the results in the PowerShell window.

4. To format the drive, type one of the following commands into the PowerShell window and then press “Enter” on your keyboard:

To Quick Format:

Format-Volume -DriveLetter "<DriveLetter>" -FileSystem <FileSystemType> -NewFileSystemLabel "<VolumeLabel>"

To Full Format:

Format-Volume -DriveLetter "<DriveLetter>" -FileSystem <FileSystemType> -NewFileSystemLabel "<VolumeLabel> -Full"

Note:

Change where it says the “<DriveLetter>” for the drive lett you want to use, the “<FileSystemType>” for the name of the file system and the “<VolumeLabel>” for the volume name you want to give the drive.

For example, Format-Volume -DriveLetter "D" -FileSystem NTFS -NewFileSystemLabel "Razer Blade HDD"

That’s all.