Like everything else, these tiny devices need formatting from time to time to work properly. An average person would try and do it the old-fashioned way: right click on the drive concerned and select ‘format’.

But what if the process gets stuck in the middle or worse, comes up with an error? And that happens quite often. However, there’s always a better to get things done. You can format your USB drive by using Command Prompt.

What is Command Prompt?

Command Prompt (CMD) is a command line interface in Windows which executes the command entered. It is a useful tool to execute tasks in a simpler and more effective way (learn more).

Steps to Format a Pen Drive Using CMD in Windows 7

In this article, we have discussed how to format  a Pen Drive using CMD in Windows 7.

Connect your Flash Drive or Pen Drive to your computer. Please make sure that you know the assigned letter for the drive as it is required in commands while formatting Pen Drive. Let’s suppose the drive letter assigned is H. Press the Windows key and R together to open Run box. In Run box, type CMD to open Command Prompt.

See Also: How to Remove Virus from Pen Drives

Note: You can also Go to Start menu and type CMD  in the search box to open Command Prompt.

Once Command Prompt is open, type this command:

format /q /x H:

In this Command,

Q – Quick Formatting

X – forces the selected volume to dismount if required.

H – letter assigned to the Drive. Check on your system and type the drive letter accordingly.

When you press enter, a message would be displayed “Insert new disk for drive H: and press ENTER when ready…”

Press enter, now the process will start and you need to wait until it is 100% completed. A message will appear – “Initializing the File Allocation Table (FAT)… Volume label (11 characters, ENTER for none)?” This means that the process is completed and waiting for your confirmation.

Press Enter to confirm, Once the process is complete, a message, “Format Complete” will be displayed.

You will also see the total space available on the drive after the process is complete.

See Also: How To Protect Your USB Pen Drive With Password

In this way, you can format your Pen Drive using CMD in Windows 7. This method would work in Windows 8, 8.1 and 10 as well.

Try the method and let us know what you think about it !