A special parameter in the Windows 11 Format command will overwrite all data on a hard drive with random numbers, eliminating access to sensitive information.

DiskPart is a command-line tool that allows you to manage your hard drives. You can use it to create, delete, and format partitions. You can also use it to assign drive letters and mount points.

You can format an external drive quickly and easily in Windows, without the need of any third-party tools. But before you format your USB drive, you need to consider which file system to use.

This guide show how to format a USB drive to FAT32 file system using File Explorer and Disk Management tool on a Windows 11/10 PC.

If Windows won't format your USB drive to the FAT32 file system, remove the write protection or use CMD, PowerShell, or free software to do the same.

For added security, Windows 11 will forgo the older MBR partition scheme and use GPT instead. That may require users to convert their older hard drives. Here is how to do it.

In this guide, we'll show you the steps to format a USB flash drive on Windows 11 using File Explorer, Settings app, Disk Management tool, Command Prompt, and PowerShell.