Do you have an unusable USB stick? If it’s stopped working for some reason, you will probably find one of the following scenarios: either the memory has been used up completely even though there are no files, or Windows just won’t let you format the drive. In the worst case scenario, the USB drive name refuses to show up on your computer.
If any of this sounds familiar, you should know it may not be entirely the USB drive’s fault. There are many reasons why you may experience these errors. Sometimes there are partition errors which can suck up the storage space.
Follow the detailed steps in this guide to fix an unformattable and unusable USB drive. The objective is to permanently wipe the old data and gift yourself with a new USB drive.
Note: the following steps are done on a Windows computer.
Is Your USB Drive Corrupt/Damaged?
We should be very clear about the differences between an “unformattable, unusable” USB drive and a “corrupt/damaged” one. When the stick is damaged beyond repair, there’s no other option but to replace it. On the contrary, if you just find that you were unable to detect or use the removable media, then it can be repaired using the steps shown in this tutorial.
Let’s take the typical situation where your computer/laptop is able to easily detect the USB drive, and you just want to know whether it’s been corrupted. Select the “Properties” of the drive folder and check the “hardware” status. If it says “This device is working properly,” the USB drive is definitely worth saving.
You may also use Chkdsk /*Drive Name*/: /f /x in Command prompt or the newly launched Windows Terminal to locate and solve any errors. It mainly comprises the drive letter of your USB after chkdsk entry, which you can find in File Explorer. Next, /f refers to any attempts to fix the errors on the USB drive, and /x will force the USB drive to be dismounted before attempting any scan.
As shown below, Chkdsk shows there are no errors or bad sectors in the USB drive. This means it’s not corrupt.
In case you’re unable to see the USB drive folder itself, that’s not a reason to worry either. Pay close attention to the next two steps, as they will easily make the drive identifiable and reusable.
1. Wipe the USB Drive Clean with Diskpart Command Line Tool
Windows comes with a built-in format disk option to erase everything from a USB flash drive. This is accessible from a simple right-click, but at this stage, it probably won’t work.
If you no longer need the data in the removable media, the command-line tool is a better way to help you get to the root of the problem and fix the storage space issues once and for all.
On Windows 10, go to the search button and run the command prompt as an administrator.
Make sure the USB drive has been inserted already. As soon as it starts, enter diskpart as shown here. It will soon load a program called “Diskpart,” which is basically Microsoft’s disk-partitioning utility. It allows you to view, create, delete or modify any disk.
Next to “Diskpart,” enter list disk. This will provide a list of each and every disk connected to your computer. Here you can easily identify your USB drive by its size.
Sometimes the disk for USB may show “no media” and 0 bytes, which is normal. As long as Disk 1 shows properly, there is a USB drive in the system.
After this, enter select disk#. Instead of #, you have to insert the numerical value of the removable drive as shown in the below screen. Very soon you should see a success status message: “Disk# is now the selected disk.”
Warning: do not accidentally select your computer’s hard drive number – in this case it was “0.” You will regret it.
To wipe your removable media clean, enter clean. This will empty the contents of the USB drive completely. You can again check for freed space using list disk. Now the USB drive is ready for further modifications.
2. Reallocate the USB Drive Volume from Disk Management Console
Even after you wipe your USB drive clean, your computer will not be able to view it. Therefore, we will need to open the Disk Management Console, which is easily accessible from the search menu. You can also type “diskmgmt.msc.”
As soon as the console window is open, you can see the disk number for your USB drive. Right-click on it and select “create simple volume.” It will lead to a “new simple volume wizard” pop-up window.
If your USB drive was identifiable on your computer, you won’t ever see this option. Instead, you will be able to directly format the disk from this menu. There is a reason we had to earlier run “Diskpart” in the command prompt.
Once you click next, you can specify the volume size for the pen drive. Select the maximum volume, which is shown as a default unit in MB.
As soon as you see the next step, select “assign drive letter,” which will help you view your pen drive once again. I chose “F” as shown here.
Format the partition in the next step. This may be just an extra step because you have already wiped the data clean. But it is always better to be sure.
Click “Finish” to complete the new simple volume wizard which will now be allocated to the USB drive.
After you reallocate the unallocated USB drive space, you will be able to view the USB drive storage once again.
3. Third-party options
There’s a lot of third-party software that claims to fix your broken hard drive, but there are several of these tools that have been tried, tested and updated for years, and have become the go-to for people who have found that Windows’ internal methods don’t quite cut it. Here are some of the best third-party tools to fix and format hard drives that seem to be unusuable.
HDD LLF Low Level Format
An oldie but a goodie, HDD LLF has been around for a long time, and low-level formats USB, SATA and other forms of hard drive. Low-level formatting means that the format will bypass the filesystem layer completely, eradicating all data on the drive and giving you a fresh start. So if your flash drive was rendered unformattable due to bad sectors or dodgy files, this tool will have you covered.
JetFlash Recovery Tool
Designed specifically for the formatting of Transcend Jetflash USB drives, JetFlash stands out for its simplicity and actually works with other brands of USB drive too. If your flash drive can’t be read or is bringing back bad sectors, then JetFlash is capable of brute-forcing the format process and giving your seemingly borked flash drive a new lease of life.
Partition Wizard
There is another good freemium tool called “Partition Wizard.” It can help you align SSD partitions, clone disks, and much more.
Download and install the software. It may prompt you to install a third-party anti-virus software, which you can uncheck, as you may not need it.
You can view the removable media drive. Go for a full scan to identify any potentially corrupt areas.
The scanning will restore your USB drive to its full available space. Once done, you can start using it just as when it was in mint condition.
If you ever find your USB drives unusable and unformattable, don’t throw them away. Try the above methods to diagnose the problem and recover it. While we’ve got you, why not also check out how to access the WindowsApps folder in Windows 10 and 11, and how to fix the dreaded ‘bad system config info’ error.
Our latest tutorials delivered straight to your inbox
