Hard drives are an important part of a system, as the OS, as well as other data, is stored on to it. Windows as an OS lets you store data and even partition and for that matter format data from your hard drives. Formatting hard drives is a simple and easy task, though it can be a bit complex for users who are not familiar with format data. Sure, there are tools within Windows itself that let you do that. But, if you are looking for alternatives, then you are at the right place. Here are the 10 best Disk Format tools for Windows.
Hard drive formatting tools are available in plenty, no doubt about that. You will find free ones and paid ones, some with trials and some just filled with ads. To be free from being confused as to which tools are the best, we have put down a list of the 10 best hard drive format tools you can use on your Windows-based PC.
Note: You can format the disk in various ways. But make sure you are not formatting Disk with Windows OS unless you really want to format Windows disk.
Best Hard Disk Format Tools
1. Windows Command Prompt
Windows as an OS has its own tools that you can use to format your hard drives and storage drives as well. The first one is by using the Command Prompt. As we all know how useful the Command Prompt is, let’s get right into how you can use this handy tool.
- Open the Run dialog by pressing the Windows and R keys.
- Type cmd in the search box and hit the enter key.
- With cmd up and running, you need to first type in diskpart and hit then enter key.
- Now that is diskpart running, you now need to simply type in list disk.
- The list disk command will now display all the drives that are currently connected to the system.
- To choose the disk, simply type in select disk (disk number) eg. select disk 1.
- Once you have that done, type in format fs=ntfs or format fs=fat32.
- The selected hard disk and partition will now be formatted on your system right away.
2. Windows Disk Management
This is a very simple and easy-to-use tool that has a graphical user interface. There are simple buttons and graphics that show you how much storage space is available and how much has been used. The program also displays details about your drive like total storage and options such as partition and formatting.
- Open the Start menu and simply type in Disk Management.
- When you see the Create and Format Hard Disk Partitions result, click on it.
- The Disk Management window will now show up.
- To format a disk drive, simply right-click on it select the Format option from the context menu.
3. Windows Explorer
Windows Explorer is the best place for you to format your connected hard drives. Be it external drives, USB drives, Rewritable Discs, or Memory Cards, you can format all of them super easily.
- Press the Windows and E keys to open up the Explorer.
- Plugin or connect the removable drives to your computer.
- When the drive shows up, simply right-click on it.
- Now, from the Context menu, you will see the format option.
- Select it. The Format Properties window will now show up.
- Simply choose whether you want a normal format or a quick format and then click on OK.
- The selected disk will now be formatted.
4. HDD Low-Level Format Tool
This is a simple and easy-to-use tool to format your hard drives. This tool has been developed by HDDGURU. The tool has a simple user interface. When you start it up, it will show you a list of all the drives connected to your computer. All you have to do is simply select the drive and then click on the format button. Depending on your hard drive’s read and write speed, the software can take anywhere between under a minute to five minutes. The good part about this software is that it is free and has no ads. However, if you purchase a license for personal or commercial uses, you will get uncapped speeds when formatting your drives. You can download the software from here.
5. Disk Wipe
The name of the tool itself indicates what it does. Yes, it formats all kinds of drives. Hard drives and portable drives and even your memory cards. The tool is simple, just like the previous one. The only drawback about the tool is that they haven’t updated it for a long time and still has design elements from Windows XP and Windows 7. Simply select the disk drive, and then you get to choose from different passes and erasing patterns you wish to format the drive with. Once you have selected that, you can then decide on format methods from FAT32, NTFS, or FAT You can download the program for free by clicking here.
6. Lowvel
Here is another free disk format tool like Disk Wipe that you can use to format hard drives. Again, this one is also a free-to-use lightweight tool. The process to start this tool is simple. Just launch the tool and click the Start button. The tool will display all details of the particular drives that are connected. You can then select the drive and click the Erase button to begin the formatting process. You also get to use the Disk Map that shows you the sectors, partitions, and current block being erased. This tool is available for free and can be downloaded from http://www.lowlevelformat.info/using-lowvel.aspx.
7. GParted
Here is a free disk format tool that is similar to the Disk Management tool available in Windows itself. It has a simple graphical interface that shows you all the drives, partitions as well as total and free space available. The best part about this tool is that it is able to format various kinds of file systems that are available. Also, if you ever feel to make certain modifications, then this can also be done since the source code is available in the public domain and will always stay free forever. Get GParted by heading here.
8. MiniTool Partition Wizard
As mini as it may sound, it does a lot more than you can think of. Sure it helps in creating, deleting, and formatting various partitions of your hard drive. It also has the features of copying your partitions, merging and splitting them as well as letting you migrate your OS from the HDD to SSD or vice versa. In fact, you will also be able to recover lost data from your storage drives, but, that will require you to buy the pro version of the software which grants you lifetime upgrades as well as a 5 PC license key. You can get MiniTool Partition Wizard by heading here.
9. AOMEI Partition Assistant
This is one of the most popular partition manager tools that is available for all Windows OS PCs. It has all the basic features that are available in the MiniTool partition Wizard. However, there are even more things available for you to use, such as regular checking of any bad sectors and fixing them as and when the problems are found. You can even clone your hard drives o matter what kind of hard drive you might be having. As well as have the ability to change the partition label, drive letter as well as set active partitions. A few of these features are locked behind the pro version, which requires a separate purchase. The base version of the tool is free to download. You can download the tool from here.
10. EaseUS Partition Manager
If you wanted a tool that does everything no matter whether it is free or a paid one, the EaseUS Partition Manager tool is a perfect choice. Why? Well for starters it has a lot of features that can be found in all tools that let you create partitions and format drives, and it supports Windows 11 right away unlike a lot of the other tools that do not have Windows 11 supported yet. Also, the tool boasts about not requiring you to restart the system many times as and when you perform a certain task using the tool. The tool has three versions. One for the home that is free, one for office at $19, and one for big corporations that will cost you $259 and has lifetime access. All of these versions have a trial version that you can try before you decide to finalize your purchase.
Conclusion
These are the 10 best disk format tools available, both free and paid ones, that can be used on a Windows PC. While most of the tools are great, the ones that are built within Windows are quite useful enough, especially when you just want to do a simple partition and format of your drives. If you want proper high-level formatting, then tools like AOMEI and EaseUS are your best friends. If you know of any other tools that are similar to these or if you have used any of the above tools, let us know about your experience with these tools in the comments below.
Also Check:
- 15 Useful Command Prompt Commands that you should know
- How to Defrag Windows 11 PC Drives
