[Solution] Fix USB Flash Drive without Formatting
- Method 1: Try Other USB Ports. Try connecting your USB flash drive to other USB ports of your computer. And, make sure...
- Method 2: Enable USB drive.
- Method 3: Change USB Drive letter.
- Method 4: Repair USB Drive. Hit Start and wait till the repair process gets completed.
- Method 5: Run CHKDSK Command. Now, Windows will start...
- Stop using the USB drive.
- Do not add new items to USB stick.
- Do not reformat the USB flash drive.
- Open CMD. ...
- Check if your drive has bad sectors. ...
- chkdsk H: /f (H is the drive letter of USB drive. ...
- Type Y if the drive is in use and hit Enter key to proceed.
How to format USB flash drives correctly?
Windows 11/10/8/7 100% Secure
- Select the USB drive to format. Connect the USB drive or pen drive to your computer. ...
- Set the drive letter and file system on USB. Assign a new partition label, file system (NTFS/FAT32/EXT2/EXT3/EXT4/exFAT), and cluster size to the selected partition, then click "OK".
- Check "OK" to confirm formatting USB. ...
- Apply the changes. ...
What file format is best for USB drives?
- If you need encryption, NTFS is the only choice for Windows.
- If you want a single partition, use exFAT or NTFS
- FAT32 only supports up to 32GB sized partitions.
- exFAT is compatible with both Windows and Mac.
- NTFS can be read by Mac, but not written to, without a driver such as this.
How to reformat an USB flash drive?
To use it:
- Connect the flash drive that you want to format.
- Go to Applications and Utilities and launch Disk Utility. ...
- Select your storage device from the list on the left and click on the Erase tab. ...
- With everything set, you may click on the Erase button to start the formatting process. ...
Why Cant I format a flash drive?
Why can't you format 128GB USB flash drive to FAT32 in Windows
- In File Explorer, you can not find FAT32 format function.
- If you format 128GB flash drive via Diskpart, you will get the error：The volume size is too big.
- Windows Disk Management does not allow formatting FAT32 larger than 32GB. No FAT32 option on the format window.
How do I fix a corrupted USB without losing data?
For Windows users:Right-click Start icon and choose Device Manager.Click Disk drives and find the driver name of the corrupted USB.Right-click on the name and choose Uninstall device.Unplug the USB drive.Replug the USB drive into the computer and it will reinstall the latest driver automatically.
How do I fix a corrupted USB?
Try to Recover Corrupted Files From USB Using CMDOpen a command prompt on your Windows system.In the prompt, type chkdsk H: /f where H is the drive letter of the corrupt USB drive and hit Enter.Use this command to recover the lost files on the drive: ATTRIB -H -R -S /S /D “drive letter”:*. *
Can a corrupted USB Be Fixed?
If the USB drivers are corrupted or out-of-date, reinstalling them or updating them can fix the issue. Right-click the Start icon and click on Device Manager. Expand the dropdown for Disk drives, right-click your USB, and click Uninstall device. Unplug your USB then plug it back in.
How can I restore my USB?
Open the Start menu, type "This pc" , and hit Enter on your keyboard. Right-click on your USB flash drive and select "Properties" . Go to the "Previous Versions" tab and look at the list of available recovery options. Select a previous version and click "Restore" .
How to Fix Corrupted USB Flash/Pen Drive Using Cmd
CMD is your first choice for damaged USB flash drive, and pen drive recovery. Requiring no formatting, it allows you to fix a corrupted USB drive w...
How to Repair Corrupted USB Pen Drive/Flash Drive Without Formatting
If the above method is not workable, just carry out the following steps to repair the damaged USB flash drive without formatting and rescue your da...
Fix Corrupted USB Pen Drive Or Flash Drive Using EaseUS USB Repair Tool
If all the above solutions are failing to help, you can try this last way to repair corrupted USB flash drive without losing data using EaseUS file...
How to fix corrupted USB drive in Windows 10?
How to fix corrupted USB on windows 10, 8,7? You can use built-in disk check utility, which will scan your disk to find system errors, bad sectors and fix it. If there are bigger issues that it can’t fix, it will show you details.
How to recover data from flash drive?
To recover data using CMD, just see below: Step 1. Open CMD. You can press Win + R to summon the Run window, then type cmd.exe and click OK. Step 2. Check if your drive has bad sectors. In the command prompt, type the following command and hit Enter.
Why is my flash drive not working?
USB port can be one of the reasons that your flash drive does not work properly. I recommend you to check all the USB ports on your computer .
Where are recovered files saved?
After all operation finish, you will find that all the recovered files are saved on your USB drive with a newly created folder. By default, the files will be in .chk format. But you still can change the file format and save it at the preferred location.
Can you restore files from a disk backup?
If you create other backup image, such as, disk backup, partition backup, you can still restore files from the image. AOMEI Backupper offers you a feature called Explore Image that allows you to do selective file restore via virtual partitions.
Can you restore data after formatting a thumb drive?
Don't be panic. Even if you've formatted the USB thumb drive, you still can restore your data. Because every file has its structure, including directory and blocks. When you format the drive, you just remove the directory of it. All your files are marked as unimportant and keep intact here.
Can you format a USB drive?
Usually, when you are asked to format your USB drive, you will choose to format it. But, to be honest, this operation is not recommended, because it can delete all of your data on this drive.
How Can I Fix My USB Flash Drive Without Formatting?
In case, you have saved any sensitive or important data on the USB drive that is corrupted or turned inaccessible then, it is suggested to restore files from it first and proceed with the troubleshooting techniques mentioned in the Part 2 section of this article. It is important to recover all important files before trying the manual methods.
What to do if USB is not recognized?
If the USB drive is not recognized or fails to show up in your computer, then go to Disk Utility (Mac) or Disk Management (Windows) and check the drive is shown up there. If the drive is listed in your system utility, then recover data from it using Remo Recover.
How to recover data from a flash drive?
So, follow these step-by-step instructions to recover data from your USB flash drive: Step 1: Connect the USB flash drive to your computer using a USB cable. Download, install and run Remo Recover software. Click the Recover Drives button, next choose the Partition Recovery option.
How to change the letter of a USB drive?
Right-click on the USB flash drive and select Change Drive Letter and Paths. Click on Add button and then OK. Assign a new (available) drive letter to the USB drive and complete the process.
How to get to properties of USB drive?
Right-click The USB Drive and Click on Properties.
How to fix a pen drive that is not broken?
As the pen drive is not physically broken and the PC is able to recognize and assigned a letter by your computer, the Check option can fix the damage. Connect the USB drive to your computer. Click on This PC/My Computer. Right-click The USB Drive and Click on Properties.
What is the best storage device for a computer?
USB flash drives are the best means for data storage in comparison with internal hard drives. This portable storage device makes the data transfer process easy and trouble-free. So, computer users often save important files like pictures, videos, documents, etc. on USB drives or use them as a bridge for data transfer need. Ultimately, USB flash drives are considered as secure storage media for sensitive data or files.
How to fix a corrupted flash drive without formatting?
Basically, users can format a corrupted or inaccessible USB flash drive to make it functional or usable again , but at the same time, the entire data located inside the drive will be erased all well.
How to fix USB flash drive?
If the USB flash drive is disabled in Device Manager, then it will malfunction, you can enable it in the following steps. Step 1. Input “Device Manager” in the Search box and hit “Enter” to enter Device Manager window. Step 2. Expand “Disk driver” and right click the USB flash drive.
How to check if flash drive is bad?
Right click the flash drive partition and select “Check Partition”. Step 2. For RAW partition, here you can only choose “Check whether there is bad sector on the partition” and click “OK”. Step 3. You can tick “Quick Check” and click “Start” to execute the bad sector checking process. Fix 3.
What happens if a USB flash drive is damaged?
When the USB flash drive is corrupted or damaged, it will stop working, become unreadable or fail to get recognized, then you will have no access to files within it and be troubled by various error messages such as “ X: is not accessible the file or directory is corrupted and unreadable ”, or "You need to format the disk in drive before you can use it" or “Please insert a disk into Removable Disk (X:)”, etc.
What to do if flash drive is RAW?
If your flash drive has become RAW file system, and the CHKDSK tool pops out “The type of the file system is RAW. CHKDSK is not available for RAW drives ” message, you can use AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard (free and compatible with Windows 10/8/7/XP/Vista), it can check RAW partition for bad sectors.
How to assign a different USB drive letter to a USB flash drive?
Steps are as follows. Step 1. Right click on “This PC/My Computer” and click the “Manage” option to open “Computer Management” window. Step 2.
Practical Scenario
Why USB Drive Ask/Want/Need to Be formatted?
- USB drive needs or asks to format because it contains a corrupted or damaged file system that displays several errors. Below, I have listed some of the common scenarios where USB drives need to be formatted: 1. USB drive totally stops working, no matter on whichever device you insert it. 2. USB drives hold bad sector and display “disk needs to be formatted”. 3. The USB drive isbla…
Solution #3: How to Recover A Hard Drive Without Formatting Using Cmd
- CMD is another option to solve the problem of how to get data from hard disk without formatting. It allows you to recover data or open USB without formatting. To do so, follow the below steps (I am using Windows 7 PC): 1. Connect your USB drive to your computer USB port. 2. Click Start, type “cmd” in a search bar and hit ENTER 3. This will open the...
The FAQ Section
- How Can I Open My Flash Drive Without Formatting?
When the USB drive gets corrupted or damaged, then it refuses to open. In such a situation people ask the question – How can I open USB flash drive without formatting? Since formatting the flash drive erases all data stored within the drive, it is suggested that you must use CMD command to … - How Do I Recover Files From My USB?
Once, your USB drive gets corrupted or damaged you get worried about the data stored within it. And hence we have found many users on several forum and community websites asking – how can I recover files from Flash drive without formatting? Well, the answer to this is already mentio…
Conclusion
- When this situation arises where your USB drive (pen drive, memory stick, external hard drive, and other USB flash drive) asks you to format it. And when such a situation occurs you are not able to open the USB drive and you lose access to the data stored within the drive. In such case, you need to use the USB Drive Data Recovery Software that will help you to retrieve files from USB drive wi…