For example, for my drive I would type the following:

Be sure to replace the # sign with the actual number of the drive. Selecting the wrong drive will result in the wrong drive being formatted and you’ll lose all data that’s stored on that drive.Ħ – Once you have determined the disk # of the drive you want to format, type select disk # into the Diskpart utility and press the Enter key. Important: Be absolutely certain that you have identified the correct drive before continuing. In my case, I’m using a 4GB drive so the one I’m looking for is Disk 7 since 3824MB is slightly less than 4GB. This should display a list of all drives that are connected to your computer, and it should look something like the screenshot below:ĥ – Examine the list of drives to determine the Disk # of the drive you wish to format.Īs a general rule, the listed size of a given drive will be slightly smaller than its actual size. The Diskpart utility should open.Ĥ – Type list disk, then press the Enter key. If you’re using Windows 7 or Windows Vista, just click the Start button and a search box will automagically appear.ģ – Right-click on diskpart.exe, then click Run as administrator. Note: I’ll be using a 4GB USB flash drive when working through the steps below.ġ – If you’re using Windows 8 or 8.1, press the Windows+ S key to open a “Search” box.

Follow these steps to format a USB flash drive that doesn’t show up in Windows Explorer: Luckily, this can be fixed as long as there isn’t a problem with the physical drive itself. This typically occurs after something happens to the drive’s file structure that makes the drive unrecognizable as a valid drive to the Windows Explorer utility. I frequently receive emails and messages from folks asking why their USB flash drive isn’t showing up in Windows Explorer (File Explorer for Windows 8 users).

How to format usb drive diskpart