Restore and Format USB flash drive using FAT/FAT32/NTFS/exFAT

In this modern world, USB drives are used to transport data from one device to another through an offline medium. Windows offer some file system to offer flash drive by default to format the flash drive like FAT, FAT32, NTFS, exFAT. So in this technical guide, we are going to discuss the modern ways to restore formatted USB drive using FAT, FAT32, NTFS, exFAT.

Short description of Flash Drive

USB or flash drive is the small and compact device that is easy to carry and they can store lots of data that depends on your storage limit. You can use them to give data from your computer to another person’s computer also you can use it to take the backup of your device. You can easily complete the cleaning pf the old data but the important thing is to the formatting file system.

How To Decide The File System To Format USB Flash Drive?

On windows, you have 4 options to format the drive i.e., FAT, FAT32, NTFS, exFAT. They can be selected according to the target environment or you also opt for them according to the advantages. So, if you don’t want to search restore formatted USB drive later, then you must have to take a backup of your drive you want to take backup.

Advantages of FAT/FAT32

These 2 operating system i.e., FAT and FAT32 is compatible with most of the OS. They require less storage space and helps the data scanned. The data is too small in size that it allows storing huge data into the drive.

 Advantages of NTFS

NTFS is the better file format system used to format the external USB drive. It offers the very least amount of space for wastage and security by encrypting the data. The data present here is in the compressed form which allows you to store more data in the few spaces.

 Advantages of exFAT

exFAT is the best file system to utilize the disk management and it allows the people to write the files over 4 GB and there is also a partition of more than 32 GB in size.

All these file systems also allow us to restore formatted USB drive. Hence you always can recover your data if you by mistake format your file.

How To Format An External USB Flash Drive?

• Insert the drive in the USB port.
• Right, Click on the drive then hit on the Format option.
• Now choose the desired file system from FAT, FAT32, NTFS or exFAT from the new dialogue box.
• Give a name to the drive. You can also opt for the format option.

Note: Before you start the process of formatting the drive for the case when it has some important data.

• In the end, click on the start button to start the process of formatting. Then, click on the Yes button and data will be erased automatically and after that, you’ll get notified.

How To Format USB using CMD

• Open Command Prompt.
• Type diskpart and hit enter.
• Type list disk and hit enter.
• Now select the targeted disk and hit enter.
• Type clean and click on the enter button.
• Type create partition primary and then click on enter.
• Type format fs=ntfs and press enter. If you want another file system then you can choose accordingly.
• Now type assign.

Note: This process will format your drive and assign a drive to the removable USB drive. 

It is always suggested to the user to always take the backup before you are going to format your drive to recover it for the case to recover it when you mistakenly formatted your important files/data.

How to Restore Formatted USB Drive or Flash Drive Using the Previous Version

To recover permanently deleted files using CMD you can take the help of the previous version option. This option is easily available in Microsoft Windows  10/8.1/8/7. So to do that, follow the steps:

1. Find the deleted file folder and Right-click on it.
2. Select the Properties option.
3. Here all previous versions of that file are available.
4. So from the list of the previous versions choose the file edition you are looking for.
5. Finally, hit on the Restore button.

If this method fails to recover your files from the flash drive then you have only one option i.e., Recovery with the help of the Data Recovery Tool.

Final Words

In this technical blog, you are informed about all the process to restore formatted USB drive and process of formatting using the FAT, FAT32, NTFS, exFAT. Apart from this, we will give you a suggestion to get you out of every problem. In the last, you always recommended taking the backup of your files before formatting. If every recovery process fails then use professional tools, this will always help you.

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