How To USB Windows

Windows was Unable to Complete the Format [Solved]

Formatting  USB drive is not a complicated process in windows. To Format a USB drive all you have to do just Right Click on the drive icon and click on Format. But sometimes this easy process becomes annoying to windows user because sometimes due to some reasons widows cannot format a particular USB drive such as pen drive, SD cards etc.

windows-was-unable-to-complete

You may be familiar with a problem that whenever you connect your Pen drive or Memory card then it will ask you to format it and when you go for format that drive then windows will shows you Windows was Unable to Complete the Format and you can’t format that usb drive. Is it annoying to you? I know it’s annoying but don’t worry, from this article you’ll learn how to solve Windows was Unable to Complete the Format error in windows.

How to Fix Windows was Unable to Complete the Format Error

There are several ways to fix this problem but we will discuss most useful and working methods

Format in Different File Format

If you are unable to format an usb drive then use different file format to format that usb drive.

  • Right Click on drive icon and select Format
  • Changes file system from FAT 32 to NTFS or other.

normal-format-process

  • Uncheck the Quick Format option and Click on Format.

This is the 1st and recommended process. If you still face this problem then try following methods one by one.

Format via Disk Management

If you are not able to format your Pen drive or Memory card in usual process then try to format that drive via Disk Management. So insert your usb drive into your pc and follow the steps as given below..

  • Perform a Right Click on My Computer and Select Manage

select-manage

  • Now Click on Disk Management from left side

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  • In Right side You should see your USB drive listed there along with your Hard disk partitions.
  • Right Click on your USB drive and select Format.

click-on-format

  • Select the file type into NTFS and unchecked the Quick Format option and then Click OK to format that drive.

Format via Command Prompt

The best and working method to format USB drive is via Command Prompt while its show Windows was Unable to Complete the Format error.  So insert your usb drive into your pc and follow the steps which are given below …

  • Click on Start Button and type cmd in the search box and hit enter.
  • Now In Command prompt format /FS:FAT32 I: (you can copy this command and paste) and  hit Enter. Here g is the drive letter of the USB drive. So in your case if it’s another letter then just replace g with your drive letter, that mean if your usb drive letter is G then type format /FS:FAT32 G: and hit Enter.

Format-via-Command-Prompt

  • Wait for few minutes; it will take some times to complete the format.

Use HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool

If the above mentioned methods does not works for you then try to format with HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool. It’s a powerful application to deal with any issue that you might face when trying to format an USB drive.

Conclusion

These are best and working method to solve Windows was Unable to Complete the Format error in windows. Try the above methods one by one and one of them might work for you.

If the above mentioned methods does not work for you then may be your USB drive is corrupted or damaged permanently and if the your usb drive corrupted or damaged permanently then there is no way to solve this problem.

Try these methods and let us know which method is works for you. If you face any problem during this process then leave a comment we’ll try to fix your issue ASAP.

10 Comments

  • Hi

    I have 32 GB ultra card, it has 13 GB data
    I tried all the solutions given by you, but nothing works
    i can see all the files are read only files, i tried to uncheck it and than delete but nothing works, file comes again
    I tried to delete all the folders but as i again insert the memory card folder comes again
    Please help me out ASAP

    Thanks
    Arsh

  • i have 8gb kingstone pendrive i will try to formate than given a error ‘window was unable to complete the formate’ please saywhat i do i will try computer right clic than manage disk management and divice formate than a error massage ‘the formate did not complete secsflly please help ehat i do

    • Hi shubham

      If you’ve tried every steps that i mentioned and if still getting error Windows was Unable to Complete the Format then may be your pendrive is damaged..

  • i have 32gb sandisk ultra sd card.its says to be formatted but unable to format.it is in
    RAW mode

  • Good post, thanks!
    Infact, there are many reasons can case the error message “Windows was Unable to Complete the Format “

  • I read an article that presents similar solution to format flash drive as yours, but it includes another solution to fix the error: check bad sector. I don’t know whether that works.
    btw, is the HP format tool you advise here for free?

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