How to Fix the “Windows Was Unable to Complete the Format” Error

If you're an experienced Windows user, you probably know that every once in a while formatting a USB flash drive is pretty much impossible because of one error that the operating system displays when trying to do it.

In the majority of cases, the error that you get says that “Windows was unable to complete the format” which more or less leaves you without too many options because it simply doesn't reveal too much about what went wrong when trying to format the USB stick.

Basically, there are three simple ways to deal with this error, all of which are detailed below.

METHOD 1 – Windows Disk Management

Although it provides you with this error message, Windows has what it takes to successfully format the USB flash pen and thus fix the issue. All you need to do is to follow this path

Control Panel > Performance and Maintenance > Administrative Tools > Computer Management > Disk Management

or simply right-click the “My Computer” icon on the desktop and hit the “Manage” option. Click on “Disk management” and you reach the exact same menu.

In this screen, look after the USB drive that you need to format and select it. If there are any partitions on the drive, delete them all. Once you get just a single item, right-click the drive and hit “Format.” If the device is larger than 4GB and you plan to transfer files that are bigger than this, it's better to use the NTFS file system.

Note: do not use the “Quick Format” option! You need to format all drive sectors to make sure that everything goes as planned.

METHOD 2 – HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool

Very similar in terms of looks with the standard Windows format screen, HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool is an easy-to-use yet powerful application that can easily deal with any issue that you might experience when trying to format a USB drive.

There's nothing too complicated about it, and both beginners and those more experienced should be able to figure out the purpose of each option, so you should be able to use right away after downloading the official package.

Simply select the USB drive, choose the desired file system (NTFS for drives that are larger than 4 GB) and you're good to go.

Note: again, do not use the “Quick Format” option! It might take a while in the full mode, but it's safer and more effective.

METHOD 3 – Mac OS X Disk Utils

For Windows users, this is basically the last resort in case none of the above has worked. The Mac OS X Disk Utils is said to manage the impossible in case no Windows application seems to work, so it really deserves a try if you're stuck with a USB drive which can no longer be formatted.

Although finding a Mac might be the real challenge this time, the app is really easy to use. Simply select the USB drive you want to format, choose the file system, select the formatting option and hit “Apply.”