How to Reset USB Drive to Original Factory Settings

If you're getting errors when trying to format your USB flash drive in Windows File Explorer (such as Windows was unable to complete the format), you can still format the drive using the Command Prompt. This wikiHow article will teach you how to erase and reformat your flash drive using the DiskPart tool in CMD using your Windows computer or laptop.

Things You Should Know  

• Plug the USB into your computer, then run CMD as Administrator. 
• After using the commands diskpart, list disk, and select disk, type clean and press Enter. 
• Use the command create partition primary to further format your USB drive.  

1. Plug your USB drive into your computer.   
   Plug it into one of the various USB ports on your computer to continue.
   Normally, you'd format a USB drive by right-clicking it and selecting Format from the menu. 
   You'll only use Command Prompt if that other method does not work. You can also use this method if you can't see the USB drive in File Explore

2. Open Command Prompt as an administrator.   
   To do this, press the Win key on your keyboard and type cmd to search for the program. Click Run as Administrator from the results list that appears.

3. Type diskpartand press↵ Enter.   
   You'll see some feedback about your computer and initiates the DiskPart utility.

4. Type list diskand press ↵ Enter.   
   In the list, you should be able to determine which listed disk is your USB.

5. Type select disk [Your disk] and press ↵ Enter.   
   From the disk list, you'll need to replace the [Your disk] line with your disk number. 
   For example, if your USB is located in disk 2, you'd enter select disk 2.
   Once the command is accepted, you'll see “[Your disk] is now the selected disk.”

6. Type clean and press ↵ Enter.   
   Wait a little bit while Command Prompt formats your USB drive.
   You'll see DiskPart succeeded in cleaning the disk when it's finished.
   Step 7 Type create partition primary and press ↵ Enter.

7. Type create partition primary and press ↵ Enter.   
   You'll need to do this before you can further format your USB drive.
   Command Prompt will display DiskPart succeeded in creating the specified partition when it's done.
   Step 8 Type format fs=ntfs and press ↵ Enter.

8. Type format fs=ntfs and press ↵ Enter.   
   This command will tell your USB drive to format with ntfs format. 
   You can also use fat32 or exfat instead by replacing ntfs in the command. 
   You'll see DiskPart successfully formatted the volume when it's finished.

9. Type assign letter=[letter] and press ↵ Enter.   
   This command will assign a specific letter to your drive.
   In place of [letter], enter a single letter. 
   For example, you'd enter assign letter=h.
   Step 10 Type exit and press ↵ Enter.

10. Type exit and press ↵ Enter.   
    This will exit the DiskPart program so you can continue using the USB drive to save files or disconnect it from your computer.