

★ Format hard drive to Ext4/Ext3/Ext2 under Windows environment ★ Format large hard drive (over 32GB) to the FAT32 file system Compared with Windows built-in formatting tools, it has fewer limitations and the following advantages: If you still cannot format the external hard drive through CMD, it is recommended to try a free partition manager - AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard. Force format external hard drive with free partition manager assign letter F: (You can replace F with another letter based on your needs)įinally, you should type: exit and hit Enter to finish the process.format fs=fat32 quick or format fs=ntfs quick.clean (This order will erase all data on the disk).select disk 1 (1 is the drive number of the target disk).list disk (display all disks on your computer).And make sure you type the correct orders and select the target disk because the operations cannot undo once it's been executed. Now, you need to type the following commands one by one, and press "Enter" after each. Press "Win + R" to open the "Run" dialog, type "cmd", and hit "Enter" to open Command Prompt as Administrator. Connect the external hard drive (HDD/SSD, USB drive, or other devices) that you need to format to your PC. Force format external hard drive with CMD Now, let's see how to resolve "cannot format external hard drive" with CMD commands and a professional third-party tool. Solutions to the “external hard drive won’t format” issue However, when you run chkdsk, you may receive the error that CHKDSK reports RAW.įortunately, in this article, we will provide you with other two effective ways to solve the Seagate, WD, or other brands' external hard drive not formatted problem. In such cases, many people would prefer to employ the CHKDSK to remedy such issues.

◤ This volume does not include a recognized file system ◤ You must format the disk in drive F: before you can use it If the aforementioned problem occurs, you may meet external hard drive won't format notices, such as: Incompatible or outdated hardware drivers or BIOS, etc.Missing or damaged DLL, SYS, or EXE files.General speaking, external hard drive won’t format could be caused by the following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 an 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”. 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 formatted.
