So, you're trying to format a USB drive on Windows and received the error message "The disk is write protected"? Don't get frustrated just yet - there's usually some easy ways to fix this!
WARNING: Formatting a USB drive will cause all data on it to be deleted! The troubleshooting method below assume you are aware and OK with this. Some of these methods require advanced technical knowledge and should only be used by those comfortable with doing so. DO NOT PROCEED if you need to keep the data on the USB drive!
While rare these days, some USB drives do in fact have on/off switches on them. Check for any on yours and change them if needed. Try to format the drive again. If the error still persists, proceed to the next method.
Step 1: Open a new Command Prompt window as an administrator.
Step 2: At the Command Prompt, type "diskpart". The DISKPART utility should start:
Step 3: Type "list disk" to display available disks:
Step 4: Carefully locate the correct disk to target and type "select disk x" to select it, where "x" is the disk number. In this example, our USB drive is disk 1.
Step 5: Type "attributes disk clear readonly" to attempt to clear the attribute that might be causing the USB drive to be readonly
Step 6: You can now type "exit" twice to close the Command Prompt, or simply use the exit button to close the window.
Step 7: Try to format your disk again. If the error message still persists, proceed to the next method.
Rufus is a free and open-source utility commonly used to create bootable USB drives with operating systems. It's lightweight but packs some more powerful workings under-the-hood than what we can usually do through File Explorer, so it's perfect for this use case. You can install it directly their website, or simply install it from the Microsoft Store (recommended).
Step 1: Once installed, open it and select your USB drive from the "Device" dropdown
Step 2: Change "Boot selection" to "Non-bootable"
Step 4: When ready, click "Start" and read and accept the data loss warning. The format operation is usually quite quick!
That's it! Your disk is now formatted and ready to proceed with your original use. You can either continue to use it directly, or format it again through File Explorer if you just want to be sure that the error message doesn't occur again.
We hope this guide was helpful! For all of your IT management and consulting needs, contact Cosmistack today!
