“How to clear a USB flash drive?” Is a question that many novice PC users ask. In fact, there is nothing complicated here, and the whole procedure does not take much time. In this article, we will talk about some of the simplest methods that will help to clear information from a flash drive and return it to its original state.
Easy removal
The first and easiest, most commonplace way to clear a USB flash drive is to simply delete all files on the drive through a standard explorer. This is easy to do. The USB flash drive is inserted into the USB port. Then you need to open the explorer, go to the "This computer" section and open the connected USB device. All that remains to be done is to select all the files. You can select with the mouse if there are few files, or press the key combination Ctrl + A. Then press the Delete button on the keyboard, and then confirm the action by selecting “Yes”.
Formatting in Windows
The second way to clear the USB flash drive is formatting through the built-in Windows utility. First you need to connect the drive to the computer via a USB connector. Next, open the "Explorer", go to the tab "This computer" and find the connected drive. Now you need to click on it with RMB and select "Format" from the drop-down list. A small window will open where you need to set the type for the NTFS file system and click on the "Start" button.
Command line
You can clear the flash drive of entries using the command line. First you need to install the drive into the USB port. Now open the command line. We do this as follows: press the key combination Win + R, in the window that opens, write cmd and press Enter. Now at the command prompt you need to enter the following text: convert: / fs: ntfs / nosecurity / x, where is the flash drive letter in Explorer. Here is an example:
convert G: / fs: ntfs / nosecurity / x
After everything is registered, it remains to press Enter and wait for completion.
Program cleaning
If for some reason the previous methods do not work or do not work, then here is another very effective method, how to clear the USB flash drive, using special programs. There are many versions of such software from various developers, but below we will consider only two programs that have long been proven to be the best.
USB Disk Storage Format Tool
So, the first one is USB Disk Storage Format Tool. You can download it from the website of the official developer, distribute it absolutely free.
After installing the program, you will need to start it, but before that you need to remember to plug the drive into the USB port. Now about how to clear the USB flash drive from files using this software. In general, everything is simple. At the very top in the drop-down list, you need to select the connected USB flash drive for formatting. Next, select the file system (should be NTFS) and check the box next to Quick format.
Once everything is configured, you can start the cleaning by clicking on Format disk.
HDD Format Tool
The second program to clean the flash drive is HDD Low Level Format Tool. You can download and install it, as in the previous case, from the developer's site. There is even a version that works without installation.
The algorithm of actions is the same as last time: we connect the drive to the PC and run the program. In the window that appears, from the list of available devices, select the connected drive and click the Continue button. You do not need to set any additional settings, because all of them are already pre-registered by the developer in the source code. Click on Format this device and wait for the procedure to complete.