4 ways to fix USB errors without formatting: 'Windows was unable to complete the format'

Normally to format the USB Flash Drive drive on a Windows computer, users just need to right-click the connected USB drive on their computer and select Format to start the USB format process.

However, in some cases when formatting USB, many users reflect that they cannot format the USB and the error message 'Windows was unable to complete the format' screen in the format.

In the following article, Network Administrator will guide you 4 simple ways to fix this error during USB format.

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1. Format the USB Flash Drive to another file format

Format USB Flash Drive drive to another file format is the easiest way to fix 'Windows was unable to complete the format'. To format the USB Flash drive

Drive to another format, follow the steps below:

- First plug the USB drive into your computer, then right-click the connected USB drive, select Format.

- On the next window, in the File System section you change FAT 32 format to NTFS or other format.

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- Next remove the Quick Format option, then click the Format button .

Final error checking 'Windows was unable to complete the format' has been fixed or not.

2. Use CMD to format USB Flash Drive

First plug USB Flash Drive or Pen Drive into the computer. Check if the name of your USB drive appears.

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Next press Windows + R key combination to open the Run command window, then type cmd into it and press Enter.

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At this time, the Command Prompt window appears, where you enter the following command and press Enter:

format / q / x H:

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Note: In the above command replace H with the name of your USB drive.

At this time, the screen shows the message 'Insert new disk for drive H: and press ENTER when ready .'.

Your task is to press Enter to start the process of reformatting the USB Flash drive or Pen drive. Wait until the process is 100% complete.

The message appears on the screen 'Initializing the File Allocation Table (FAT) . Volume label (11 characters, ENTER for none)?' . This means that the format is 100% complete and waiting for you to confirm.

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Press Enter again. After the USB or Pen Drive formatting has finished, you will see a message like the one below:

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3. Use Disk Management to format USB Flash Drive

Sometimes in some cases the user can use the Disk Management format USB Flash Drive to fix the error 'windows was unable to complete the format'.

- First plug your USB drive into the computer.

- Next, right-click the Computer icon and select Manage .

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- At this time, the Computer Management window appears.

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- Here you click on Disk Management in the left pane. Now in the right pane you will see a list of USB drives connected to the computer and the hard drive partition.

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- Right-click the USB Flash Drive and select Format.

- On the screen appears Format USB Flash Drive window, here you change the FAT 32 format to NTFS or exFAT and leave the option Perform a quick format and click OK to finish.

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4. Use the HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool to format USB Flash Drive

If you have applied the above solutions and still cannot fix the errors, then you can ask for third-party assistance to use the HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool to format the USB Flash Drive.

- First download HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool on your device and install.

Download HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool and install it here.

- If HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool is not running, open the tool by right-clicking on it and selecting Run as administrator.

- Finally click on the Start button to start the format process.

If all of the above still does not help, you need to check that the USB is virus-free and not read / write.

Refer to some of the following articles:

Fix the 'This Device Can Perform Faster' error when connecting a USB device

Summary of some simple ways to disable USB ports on Windows computers

Using USB to lock or unlock Windows computer, have you tried it or not?

Good luck!

fix USB errors

Isabella Humphrey

Update 26 May 2019

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