Formatting a USB stick or any drive that can be connected via USB port, including the external hard disk, generally means erasing everything inside it and preparing the space for new files. Very often, to do it first, you prefer to delete files manually but it is not the same as formatting.
A USB stick or hard disk or memory card for mobile phones and cameras must be formatted when:
- You notice slow access to files or if some files are damaged, formatting allows you to repair corrupt sectors and make the drive faster.
- If you want to copy files larger than 4 GB into it.
- If you need the pen to be compatible with Mac and Linux.
- If you want to gain more space.
READ ALSO: Format and Clean the USB stick to recover space
To format a USB stick or an external hard disk in Windows, both Windows 7 and Windows 10 simply insert the drive into the USB socket of the computer, go to My Computer, right click on the removable disk icon and select, from the menu, " Format ".
The formatting options displayed in the window relate to the file system, allocation unit size, volume label and formatting options.
To format the drive, just press " Start " and then OK to the warning message that all data will be deleted.
The important thing is the options that generally no one touches, to understand the best configuration to format a USB stick or an external hard disk .
READ ALSO: How to format a disk in Windows
The first option, the file system option, is the most important part.
In Windows 7 and Windows 10, a maximum of four different file systems are displayed: NTFS, FAT, FAT32 and exFAT .
If the USB drive is larger than 32 GB, you will not see the FAT and FAT32 options, while if the USB stick has a space smaller than 4 GB it cannot be formatted in NTFS.
READ ALSO: Initialize and format new or unrecognized disk (Windows)
NTFS, compared to the FAT and FAT32 format has some important differences including:
- Ability to read and write files larger than 4 GB.
- Create partitions larger than 32 GB.
- Compress files and save disk space.
- Better space management and less fragmentation.
- Add permissions and protections on individual files and folders.
- On Mac you can only read NTFS drives but not write on them.
- Only Xbox One reads NTFS USB sticks that don't work on Xbox 360 and PlayStation.
FAT and FAT32 instead have different characteristics such as:
- A file larger than 4 GB cannot be written
- They are compatible with all operating systems, MAC and Linux included.
- They perform fewer disk writing operations and use memory faster extending the life of USB sticks.
FAT32 and FAT are the formats suitable for formatting all USB sticks and memory cards.
I say all because I don't think USB sticks larger than 32 GB are so widespread.
When formatting in FAT32 or FAT, however, it must be remembered that it is not possible to copy inside files larger than 2 or 4 GB, even if there is space.
If you have ever copied a friend's game to a USB stick, you will have experienced that that game, if larger than 4 GB, does not enter the USB stick even by pushing it by force.
FAT is preferred for USB sticks and cards of less than 2 GB, otherwise better to use FAT32.
All hard drives, both internal and external, instead must be formatted in NTFS.
ExFat is a format that is used only rarely, suitable only if you have a very expensive USB flash drive that has space greater than 32 GB.
exFAT combines the essential advantages of FAT (speed) and NTFS (large files supported).
It is important to keep in mind that FAT and FAT32 are file systems supported by any operating system, therefore, if the USB stick is connected to a Linux PC or a MAC, it works.
NTFS on the other hand is supported by Linux, but requires an external program to run on Mac.
exFAT is supported on MACs with Snow Leopard but drivers for Linux are required.
Returning to the options of formatting a USB stick on Windows, we see the other mysterious option, that relating to the allocation unit size .
Very briefly, let's say that, hard drives or memory units are organized in clusters, that is, groups of which you can choose the size.
If a cluster is filled, even partially, that space will be seen occupied even if, theoretically, there would still be space.
Hence, a large cluster can lead to more wasted or loose space.
With smaller clusters, on the other hand, the disk becomes slower as each file is split into smaller parts and it takes much longer to put it back together.
The optimal allocation unit size depends on what you want to do with the USB stick or pen.
If you intend to store large files on this drive, it is better to format with large clusters so the drive will be faster.
If the USB stick is used for small files, using small clusters brings more usable space.
In general, the larger the USB stick, the more convenient it is to set up large allocation units .
For example, for a 500 MB USB stick, select 512 bytes (FAT32) or 32 kilobytes (FAT).
On a 1 TB external hard drive, select 64 kilobytes (NTFS).
The volume label is simply the name of the drive and is optional.
What you need to know is that if you format it in NTFS, the name can be 32 characters long while if you format it in FAT, only 11.
To finish, let's see the quick format option.
During normal formatting, the files are removed from the disk and the disk is scanned for bad sectors.
During quick format the files are removed and no scan is done.
If the USB stick is new, you can always use fast formatting but with older and used drives, it is always advisable to do standard formatting in order to prevent possible losses.
In case Windows formatting fails, the best program to format USB sticks and try to restore them even if they are damaged or if there are errors is HP USB Format Tool .
In other articles we talk about how to erase all data permanently, how to recover deleted files from a USB stick or memory card and how to format a computer hard disk.
READ ALSO: Format USB in exFat or FAT32 to use the stick on Mac and PC
