Compared with Windows built-in formatting tools, it is more powerful and has the following advantages: If you still cannot format the external hard drive through the DiskPart, it is recommended to try a free partition manager like AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard. Force format external hard drive with free partition manager Type: assign letter F: (You can replace F with other letter based on your needs)įinally, you should type: exit and hit Enter to finish the process. Type: format fs=fat32 quick or format fs=ntfs quick and hit Enter to reset the drive to FAT32 or NTFS file system.ġ0.
Type: create partition primary and hit Enter.ĩ.
Type: select disk 1 and hit Enter (1 is the drive number of your USB.)Ĩ. Type: list disk and hit Enter to display all disks on your computer.Ħ. Type: cmd and hit Enter to open Command Prompt as Administrator.ĥ. Press Win + R to open the "Run" dialog,ģ. Connect the external hard drive (HDD/SSD, USB drive or other devices) that you need to format to your PC.Ģ. Force format external hard drive with CMDġ. Solutions to “external hard drive won’t format” issueįortunately, in this article, we will provide you two effective ways to solve the Seagate, WD or other brands external hard drive not formatting problem. However, when you run chkdsk, you may receive the error that chkdsk reports RAW. In those situations, many users would like to use the CHKDSK to repair this kind of problems. Thus, suddenly, you may meet various external hard drive won’t format problems including "Disk is not formatted","You need to format the disk in drive F: before you can use it", or "This volume does not contain a recognized file system", etc. Incompatible or outdated hardware drivers or BIOS, etc. Missing or damaged DLL, SYS, or EXE files General speaking, external hard drive won’t format could be caused by the following factors: Why is external hard drive not formatting? You may get the error messages “ Windows was unable to complete the format ” or “the format did not complete successfully”. Help me please!”Īctually, many users have met the external hard drive won’t format problem when they try to format their external HDD/SSD, a Micro SD card, USB flash drive, pen drive, etc. Can't create an NTFS partition because the Seagate external hard drive cannot format. Windows is unable to complete the format. “I have a 1TB Seagate external hard drive and when I plug it in, it says it needs to be format.