5 Free Ways to Remove Write Protection from USB/Pen Drive

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When you try to format a USB or write data to it, you might get the error message "The disk is write protected". This means you can only read the data already stored on the USB, but can't delete or modify them. The write protection can be either physical or virtual, and it prevents new data from being written or old data from being changed, effectively making the USB read-only.

You can remove write protection from a USB drive in Windows 11/10 using free methods. This article aims to provide solutions to help you overcome write protection on your USB drive, allowing you to use it as you normally would.

How to remove write protection from USB drive effectively

If you're unable to remove write protection from your USB drive, don't worry - this article has got you covered. There are 5 safe and effective methods to remove write protection from USB sticks in Windows 11, 10, 8, and 7, including a professional third-party write protected USB format tool that can help you format your USB drive and remove the write protection.

Methods	Efficiency	Difficulty
💡Check write protection switch	High - To use a USB flash drive, make sure the lock switch is slid up to the unlock position. This will allow you to access the data stored on the drive.	⭐
🔒Diskpart	Medium - You can type in some commands to clear readonly.	⭐⭐⭐
💻Disable write protection through Registry	Medium - To disable write protection, edit the DWORD Value in the registry to change its value from 1 to 0. This can be done by following these steps: Open the registry editor, navigate to the specified key, and locate the DWORD Value.	⭐⭐
📸Turn off BitLocker	Medium - Turning off BitLocker removes write protection from the USB.	⭐⭐
🚀Try write protected USB format tool	High - If the file system on a USB drive is corrupted, it can be reformatted to remove any write protection, potentially allowing the drive to be used again.	⭐

I highly recommend using the Qiling Disk Master to quickly fix the problem, especially if you're dealing with a write-protected hard disk. This free partition manager offers more features to repair the file system and can directly deal with write-protected hard disks.

▶ Method 1. Check physical write protection switch(if available)

Some USB flash drives have a physical switch that allows you to lock or unlock write protection. To use one of these drives, make sure the lock switch is slid up to the unlock position, allowing you to transfer files to the drive. If the switch is slid down, the drive will be locked and you won't be able to transfer files to it.

If the write protection switch on your USB drive is off, and you still get the error message or there is no physical switch on your USB drive, please skip to Method 2.

▶ Method 2. Clear read-only attributes with DiskPart utility

Here's how to remove write protection on a USB drive without a switch using Diskpart in Windows:

Step 1. To open the DiskPart Command Prompt, press the Windows key + R to open the Run dialog box, type "diskpart" and hit Enter.

Step 2. Sure, what is it that you need help with?

● list disk The computer will display all disks connected to it, including internal hard drives.
● select disk n The total number of USB flash drives is 5, with each drive having a unique size that can be identified by the Size column, making each drive distinct from the others.
● attributes disk clear readonly To change your USB's properties so that it is no longer read-only, you can right-click on the USB drive in File Explorer, select 'Properties', and then toggle the 'Read-only' option to 'No' or 'Off'. Alternatively, you can also use the Command Prompt or PowerShell to change the drive's properties.

Step 3. Close the DiskPart Command Prompt and re-plug your USB flash drive to check if the write protection error is resolved. If the issue persists, you can try running the command "Attrib -H -R -S X:" in the Command Prompt, where "X:" is the drive letter of your USB flash drive, to remove the write protection attribute. If the issue still persists, you may need to use a third-party tool or contact the device manufacturer for further assistance.

▶ Method 3. Disable write protection by editing the registry

If you're familiar with computer knowledge, you can use other built-in Windows tools, such as Registry Editor, to remove write protection from a USB drive on Windows 11/10. Alternatively, you can follow the steps to remove write protection from a USB drive on Windows 11/10.

Step 1. To open the Registry Editor, press the Windows key + R on your keyboard, type "regedit" in the Run dialog box that appears, and then press Enter. This will open the Registry Editor.

Step 2. I'm happy to help you with that. However, I don't see any left-hand pane or entries to expand.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control

Step 3. Right-click the Control (folder) key, select New, click on Key, and name the new key StorageDevicePolicies.

Step 4. Create a new DWORD value named "WriteProtect" in the registry.

Step 5. Double-click the newly created DWORD, change its value from 1 to 0 and click "OK" to apply the change.

Tips: 1 means "Yes, write protect my USB storage devices." Conversely, 0 means "No, don't write protect my USB devices."

Step 6. Close Registry Editor and restart your computer.

▶ Method 4. Turn off BitLocker to remove write protection from USB

To turn off BitLocker on a USB stick, you need a password or recovery key, and if you don't have either, you'll have to reformat the pen drive.

To unlock a write-protected BitLocker USB on a Windows 10/11 PC, follow these steps: First, insert the USB drive into a computer. Next, click on the Start menu and type "Manage BitLocker" in the search bar, then select the result.

Step 1. To check if BitLocker is enabled on a storage device, you can open File Explorer and look for the device you want to check. If the icon for the device has a padlock on it, it means BitLocker is enabled for that device.

Step 2. To access the BitLocker Drive Encryption window, right-click on the BitLocker icon and select "Manage BitLocker". This will display a list of all storage units and their encryption status in the BitLocker Drive Encryption window.

Step 3. Click on the protected USB drive, select "Turn off BitLocker", enter the password or recovery key, and the device will be decrypted. Once complete, BitLocker will be turned off.

After disabling BitLocker, attempt to copy a file onto the USB stick to see if the issue is resolved.

▶ Method 5. Format write-protected USB with Qiling Disk Master

If you've tried all the steps above and still can't remove write protection from USB drive, the reason might be corrupted file system. You may need to use a more advanced tool or format the write-protected USB drive.

Qiling Disk Master is a powerful partition manager software and disk management tool for Windows 11/10 computers that supports all types of disks, including SSD, HDD, USB flash drive, and Pen Drive. Its simple and clean interface allows for easy and quick formatting of write-protection USB devices.

Note: Formatting a USB drive will erase all data on it. Please ensure you back up any important files to your computer before proceeding.

Step 1. The process of using Qiling Disk Master to format a USB partition involves the following steps: Download, install, and launch Qiling Disk Master. Then, right-click on the USB partition and select the "Format Partition" option. This will initiate the formatting process, which will erase all data on the partition and prepare it for new data to be written.

Step 2. You can name your USB drive and change its file system in the pop-up window, editing the "Partition Label" and selecting a new file system, such as NTFS for larger file storage.

Step 3. The USB drive has not been formatted yet. To save the changes, click "Proceed".

The formatting process on a USB drive is relatively quick, with the time taken depending on the amount of data stored on it. If the drive is in good condition with no physical damage or bad sectors, it can be formatted, cleaned, and made writable.

Since the reasons for write protection in USB/pen drives are different, some steps may fail to remove write protection from USB drives, so if one step doesn't work, please skip it and try the next one.

Conclusion

If you encounter the "disk is write protected" error, don't worry, as this is a straightforward process to remove write protection from your USB or SD card. The solutions provided are suitable for both devices, and if you're using Qiling Disk Master on Windows Server, you may need to upgrade to the Server Edition to remove write protection from your USB. Additionally, Qiling Disk Master offers more advanced features such as migrating OS to SSD, cloning system disk, ecovering lost partitions, and converting dynamic disk into basic, among others.recovering lost partitions, and converting dynamic disk into basic, among others.

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