Formatting a flash drive can resolve various issues, including hardware or software problems. This simple process can fix dozens of reasons, making it a convenient solution for common issues.
Formatting a flash drive is a straightforward process, but it comes with the risk of losing data. To format, simply right-click on the drive and select "Format" from the menu. However, if you have important files on the drive, such as reports, presentations, or a thesis, you'll need to unformat the flash drive to recover your data.
You can recover files from a formatted flash drive because formatting only marks data as deleted, making space available for new data, but not erasing the original files, which remain invisible until they're overwritten. To recover them, you can unformat the flash drive on Mac or Windows, ideally before new data is added, to increase the chances of a successful recovery.
Before attempting to unformat a flash drive, note that using it after realizing the need to unformat it can result in permanent data loss. To avoid this, keep the drive still until you follow the steps to unformat it on Windows 11/10/8/7 or macOS, and then resume using it.
You can't unformat a flash drive without any format recovery software or techniques, but you can try using Deep Data Recovery, a simple and safe tool that can help you quickly recover data from a formatted USB flash drive. It's specially designed to solve the unformatting task and can restore formatted flash drives in less than 10 minutes.
Download the .exe/dmg file of Deep Data Recovery, install it on your computer, and it will work smoothly on Windows 11, 10, 7, 8, and Mac. It's virus-free and safe to use.
To connect your flash drive, insert it into the USB slot on your computer and ensure it's properly connected. Do not open or access the drive at this stage, just verify that it's recognized by the computer.
Connect the formatted flash drive to your computer, open the software and select the drive to scan, then click the "Scan" button.
After scanning, the results are displayed in a window, where all files are sorted into categories. To find a specific file, you need to unfold the category directory, locate the file, and preview it.
If you need to recover data from a flash drive, select the desired file and click "Recover" to save it to your computer. Do not save the recovered data back to the flash drive, as it may be erased again.