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Best programs for USB flash drives formatting
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Windows formatting tool can not always format the USB flash drive correctly. Standard formatting is not solution at all if a file table information on the storage device has been corrupted. Unfortunately, it's harder to recover data on a flash drive with this kind of damage.
Consider the best programs for formatting flash drives, there are more or less versatile tools. You can easily find other alternatives, free and proprietary utilities offered by manufacturers and download it for Windows. So, let’s begin!
Important! Save the USB flash drive contents on the computer before formatting. All data stored on the formatted media will be irretrievably deleted.
Table of Contents
JetFlash Recovery Tool - simple usb stick formatter
JetFlash Recovery Tool is a universal solution to format usb drive. It will be useful in case if:
- USB flash drive consists any file table errors or bad sectors
- Information on the flash drive can not be read (reasons unknown)
- You just need to format a USB flash drive
Install the JetFlash Recovery Tool and try to forcefully format flash drive with it. The flash drives formatter works with A-DATA and Transcend brands, but other variants are possible as well.
JetFlash Recovery Tool can be downloaded from the official website. Install it on the computer according to the instructions that come with the program.
Download JetFlash Recovery Online
USB Disk Storage Format Tool
One of the best USB format tool
USB Disk Storage Format Tool allows you to format a USB flash drive on Windows quickly and correctly. You can specify the file system of the formatted usb media: FAT, FAT32, exFAT or NTFS.
The main features of the utility:
- It allows to choose standard formatting or erase all data on a flash drive, which can not be formatted by usual (system) way
- USB Disk Storage Format Tool removes any traces of malware and viruses that could infect the USB flash drive
- Search and fixing of reading errors and bad blocks on a flash drive
- Creating a volume label (name) for USB drives
- Creating a partition in FAT32 with a 32 GB > capacity
- Low-level formatting of flash drives of the required model (Kingston, HP, Sony, Lexar, Imation, Transcend, Corsair and so on).
USB Disk Storage Format Tool has been successfully tested on thousands of storage devices (Compact Flash media, Thumb Drives, Pen Drives). It supports such brands as SanDisk, Kingston, Transcend, Corsair, Sony, Lexar, Toshiba, Verbatim, Silicon Power, IronKey and HDE.
There is also a Pro version of the USB Disk Storage Format Tool. It can be useful for making bootable flash drives, performing low-level formatting, changing the size of the clusters and so on.
Download USB Disk Storage Format
HDD Low Level Format Tool
Hard Disk Low Level format app for Windows 10
HDD Low Level Format Tool is utility for low-level hard disks formatting. This app allows you to read SMART data and get service information about data storage devices on your Windows PC.
However, the HDD Low Level Format Tool supports not only hard disks. It is also possible to format usb pen drive or memory card (SD, MMC, MemoryStick and CompactFlash) – you need a card reader to connect them via an USB port.
HDD Low Level Format Tool will erase data from SATA, IDE, SAS, SCSI or SSD via low level access. The utility also works with any USB and FIREWIRE external drives, as well as SD, MMC, MemoryStick and CompactFlash sticks.
HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool for Windows
A very simple utility for the correct flash stick formatting in FAT32 or NTFS formats. The main function is to help the user to quickly select options and format the USB flash drive on the computer by pressing a “Format” button.
HP USB Storage Format Tool is available for free, the installer can be downloaded for Windows 10, 7, 8, etc.
In addition, through the HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool, you can make a bootable USB flash drive (which other similar usb flash formatters can’t do).
Download HP USB Storage Format Tool
How to format a USB flash drive in Mac OS
The HP USB Format Tool allows you to format the USB flash drive in the Mac OS X. However, for this you need to follow the next steps:
- Install the Parallels Desktop emulator on your Mac OS
- Install Windows on Parallels Desktop
- Download HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool on Mac, install it on emulated Windows
- Format the USB flash drive under Mac OS X via emulated Windows
Kingston USB Format Tool
Kingston USB format and repair app for Windows
Kingston format utility does not contain any settings at all. For formatting, you need to specify a device (usb-flash drive) and a file system.
Developers of the program claim that the FAT is the best format for usb drive to avoid conflicts with other operating systems. It will not affect the performance of the flash drive.
The program is able to format and repair usb flash drives under Windows 7, Windows 10 and earlier versions of the OS.
Therefore, if you have a Kingston flash drive and noticed that it works slowly, try this app: maybe it will solve the problem.
Vlad Brown, USA, Buffalo, WY
Vlad is a professional writer. He has expert knowledge in data recovery with 15 years of experience. He started his career as a journalist by reviewing PC and mobile apps. His current responsibilities are to keep track of users' questions and answer them.
His current responsibilities are to keep track of users' questions and provide answers to them, write proven manuals, be the website technical support and also run a Youtube channel.