Getting the perfect organized system with your files and data can be such a headache to figure out. It just makes sense to have all your data organized in a way that works best for you. With the right software, you can maximize space with these top USB formatting tools.
Top 15 Best USB Format Tools
- USB Formatting Tool by Microsoft – Best for efficiency
- HP USB disk storage format tool – Best for simplicity
- EaseUS Partition Master – Best for Versatility
- Gnome Parted Partition Editor (Gparted) – Best Freeware Software
- Kingston USB Format Tool- Best for Reliability
- MiniTool Partition Wizard 12.6- Best for Diversity
- AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard – Best for Ingenuity
- Active KillDisk Professional Suite – Best for a Comprehensive package
- DiskGenius Professional – Best for a variety of formats
- Rufus – Best Opensource program
- MiniAide FAT32 Formatter – Best for User-friendly USB Formatting
- HDD Low Level Format Tool – Best for Flexibility
- SD Card Formatter – Best for Compatibility with Mac
- USB Image Tool – Best for Beginners
- WD Drive Utilities – Best for Applicability
1. USB Formatting Tool by Microsoft – Best for efficiency
Pricing: Freeware
Microsoft’s very own USB formatting tool is not a bad place to start for formatting as it offers a simple, easy-to-use tool that is ideal for basic formatting needs. It’s excellent for quickly formatting USBs without any extra bells and whistles.
| Pros | Cons |
| Simple to use | Limited features compared to other tools |
| Basic formatting options | It can be confusing for beginners |
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2. HP USB disk storage format tool – Best for simplicity
Pricing: Freeware
In 2014, HP developed and released its own USB formatting tool, which is free and straightforward to use. Don’t let the simplicity fool you, though. HP USB disk storage format tool is powerful for quickly formatting drives in FAT, FAT32, and NTFS formats covering standard operating systems such as Windows XP, Vista, and up to Windows 10. Although the tool has not been regularly updated, it is still highly recommended for its useability and consistency.
| Pros | Cons |
| Free to download | Limited features compared to other tools |
| Easy to use | No way to hot image drives |
| Can format multiple drive types | – |
| Erases disks quickly and efficiently | – |
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3.EaseUS Partition Master – Best for Versatility
Pricing: Free version, Pro version One Year $54.95
The good people at EaseUS have a vast array of software for any tech need. Their Partition Master is a great USB formatting tool with various features. EaseUS Partition Master is accessible for new and dedicated users with an exemplary user interface. It can format USB drives in FAT and NTFS formats, merge partitions, resize partitions with advanced options. Including modifying the size of harddisks.
| Pros | Cons |
| Good variety of features | Free version limits usage |
| Can format USB drives in FAT and NTFS formats | You need to close other applications while using it |
| Easy to use | – |
| Resizes partitions | – |
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4. Gnome Parted Partition Editor (Gparted)- Best Freeware Software
Pricing: Freeware/Opensource
Gnome Parted Partition Editor is an outstanding application and compares favorably to alternative paid formatting tools, considering it doesn’t cost you a dime. Gparted was introduced back in 2004 and has been a popular USB formatter ever since. With regular updates, GParted is a tool that you can trust will get the job done and is compatible with Windows, Mac OS, and Linux. With it being open-sourced, it is an excellent option for those on a budget.
| Pros | Cons |
| Open source and free to download | It can be challenging to use for beginners |
| Can format easily without incurring data loss | Not capable of cloning. |
| Compatible with Mac and Linux | – |
| Resizes partitions seamlessly | – |
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5. Kingston USB Format Tool – Best for Reliability
Pricing: Freeware
Kingston USB Format Tool is another great tool and deceptively powerful for such a simple application. The usability and reliability make it a valuable tool for USB Formatting.
| Pros | Cons |
| Easy to use | Limited features compared to other tools |
| Reliable | Old UX/UI |
| – | Backups are required |
| – | – |
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6. MiniTool Partition Wizard – Best for Diversity
Pricing: Freeware
Of all the free USB Formatting applications, MiniTool Partition Wizard is one of the most downloaded. This software enables users to reconfigure disk partitions with ease. It can format USB drives in FAT and NTFS formats, merge partitions, resize partitions, and more.
| Pros | Cons |
| Variety of features | Some features are only available in the paid version |
| Can format USB drives in FAT and NTFS formats | Not user friendly |
| Merges partitions intuitively | – |
| – | – |
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7. AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard – Best for Ingenuity
Pricing: Free, Pro edition $49.95, Server Edition $159.00
AOMEI Tech has built a portfolio of applications that offer IT Solutions to users globally. AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard features a comprehensive application covering all the bases. This software provides, and reliability makes it a superior and versatile USB Formatter for cloning, resizing and creating partitions, and making bootable drives. AOMEI delivers a great product to users that are convenient and trusted by tech giants worldwide.
| Pros | Cons |
| Strong range of features | Some features are only available in the paid version |
| Can format USB drives in FAT and NTFS formats | Limits on formats |
| Easy to use | Difficult for beginners |
| – | – |
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8. Active Partition Manager Professional Suite – Best for a Comprehensive package
Pricing: Freeware, Standard $49.95, Professional $59.99, Ultimate $89.00
LSoft Technologies is renowned for its great software. The Canadian Tech Company offers a USB Formatter that is no exception. Active Partition Manager Professional Suite is an excellent application to Format USB drives and recovers lost files. Their product line offers useful software that compliments USB Formatting with plenty of support available.
| Pros | Cons |
| Compatible with non-bootable PCs | Old User Interface |
| Efficient | – |
| Avoids shutting down systems after completion | – |
| – | – |
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9. DiskGenius Professional – Best for a variety of formats
Pricing: Free, Standard $69.90, Professional $99.90
The four pillars of DiskGenius are Data Recovery, Partition Management, Backup & Restore, and Disk Utilities. EASSOS, a tech company based in China, has developed an excellent USB formatting tool that’s reliable, extensive, and offers users helpful IT Support for users who have the paid versions. This formatting tool provides an abundance of filesystem formats. DiskGenius’s efficiency makes it a highly sought-after program.
| Pros | Cons |
| The free version still includes decent features | Old User Interface |
| Good Tech Support | Too complicated for beginners |
| Free Lifetime upgrades | – |
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10. Rufus – Best Opensource program
Pricing: Opensource
Rufus is an open-source application developed by Pete Batard and released in 2011. Rufus stands for “The Reliable USB Formatting Utility, with Source” and is a hugely popular utility for USB Formatting. The utility offers Linux users and Windows support and can format sd FAT, FAT32, and more. For an Opensource program, Rufus offers a speed that surpasses professional applications. Rufus also formats to a variety of ISOs such as Arch Linux, Trinity Rescue Kit, UEFI Shell, and Knoppix, to name a few.
| Pros | Cons |
| Open Source/Free | Lacks some features |
| Fast | – |
| Versatile | – |
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11. MiniAide FAT32 Formatter – Best for User-friendly USB Formatting
Pricing: Freeware
MiniAide Tech Development Co. Ltd. has done its best to provide simple formatting solutions at no cost. Excellent, although there isn’t a tonne of information out there about the developer, MiniAide’s FAT32 Formatter is a trusted USB Formatter that is a great tool to have for formatting. It was developed with user-friendliness in mind. The software offers a decent amount of features for a freeware application and provides an exemplary user interface compared to other free formatting tools. MiniAide is versatile for USB Formatting and Partition managing, making it a beginner-friendly useful, all-in-one tool.
| Pros | Cons |
| Simple and easy to use | Difficult to reformat once formatted |
| It doesn’t use much space | No recent updates since 2012 |
| Fast | Not compatible |
| Free | – |
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12. HDD Low-Level Format Tool – Best for Flexibility
Pricing: Free (Slow speed), Personal use £3.30, Professional use $27.00
Developed by HDDGuru, HDD Low Level Format Tool is a freeware tool. It is used for low level hard drive formatting and is accessible at its basic package. The utility erases and low-level formats on complex disk spaces as well as USB drives.
| Pros | Cons |
| Simple and easy to use | Difficult to reformat once formatted |
| Regular Updates | Limits and slow speed of free version |
| Consolidates tools into one | – |
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13. SD Card Formatter – Best for Compatibility with Mac
Pricing: Freeware
SD Card Formatter boasts compatibility for both Mac and Windows and offers the ability to format SD Cards and Memory Sticks. This Application is simple to use and a fair starting point for beginners.
| Pros | Cons |
| Simple and easy to use | Some formats are not compatible |
| Available PC and Mac versions. | – |
| – | – |
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14. USB Image Tool – Best for begginers
Pricing: Opensource
Brought to you by software developer Alexander Beug, USB Image Tool is another Opensource utility developed initially for managing MP3 players with image files. USB Image Tool lets you create backup files by making image files from flash drives. The user interface is simple enough for beginners to use confidently while alos having enough functions to keep any tech guru happy.
| Pros | Cons |
| Can format as .iso | Some formats are not compatible |
| Available PC and Mac versions. | Old User interface |
| – | – |
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15. WD Drive Utilities – Best for Applicability
Pricing: Freeware
Western Digital’s Drive Utility can restore drives back to their original formatting. It works well with Mac and windows. WD provides diagnostics on USB drives before formatting, taking out severe headaches. The interface design provides new users with a great introduction to USB Formatting.
| Pros | Cons |
| Comprehensive tool | Windows XP not supported |
| MAC version is available | – |
| User Experience | – |
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is a USB formatting tool?
A USB formatting tool is a software program that helps you to format USB drives in FAT and NTFS formats. Some of the benefits of using a USB formatting tool are it is a much more efficient way to manage data than merely deleting files manually. They provide an excellent method of merging, resizing, and much more.
What are the benefits of using a USB formatting tool?
Some of the benefits of using a USB formatting tool are that it can help you merge partitions, resize partitions, and more. Additionally, USB formatting tools can help improve the performance of USB drives and keep them running smoothly. They can reformat USBs more effectively than manually deleting files as they handle slack space.
What type of files can be formatted with USB formatting tools?
USB formatting tools are most often used to format USB drives in FAT/FAT32 and NTFS formats. This allows you to choose the file system that is best suited for your needs. Fat/FAT32 is a good option for small USB drives and is compatible with most operating systems, while NTFS and exFAT formats are better for handling larger USB drives. Other formatting types include XFS, Apple File System, and B-tree File Systems.
How do you use USB formatting tools?
First, you will need to download and install the software program to use USB formatting tools. Once the software is installed, you can launch it and select the specific USB drive you want to format. The most common formats are the previously mentioned theFAT32 and NTFS formats. Once the format is selected, you can proceed to clicking Format. This will inevitably result in data loss – if you have any files you need to preserve, it is essentialexcellent to backup. Once formatting is complete, you may close the application.
Can external hardware be used?
It is possible to use external hardware while using the essential USBbeginnersalso Formatting tool. If using an external hard drive, your computer would need an available SATA port or PCIe slot to connect it properly.
Can USB formatting tools take the data from one USB drive and copy it over onto another USB drive?
Yes, they can do this. Doing this is perfect for when you forget your flash drives at home but want access to it when you’re out of town or not near a computer.