How To Completely Wipe A Flash Drive

• How To Completely Wipe A Flash Drive Windows 7
• Erase Flash Drive Windows 10
• How To Completely Wipe A Flash Drive

After choosing the wiping method, simply click on ' Wipe ' and the program will automatically start erasing everything from the USB flash drive. Wait for few minutes until the data are securely removed from the disk drive. Now, you can audit the USB flash drive and everything will be permanently erased. Go to Applications, select Utilities, and double-click on Disk Utility. In the sidebar, click on the USB drive you want to format and then choose Erase from the top toolbar. In the drop-down window, under Name, type a name for the drive. Choose a format option. Back up anything you want to keep, such as photos, software product keys, etc. When the hard drive. To completely wipe the selected disk's partition table, type the following command and then press Enter. Remember, this command will completely wipe the disk, so be sure you have any important files backed up. If the USB flash drive refuses to unmount, run the command with the -l switch. Sudo umount /dev/sdLETTER -l. With the USB flash drive unmounted, use the DD tool to erase it securely. Once again, be sure to change /dev/sdLETTER in the command below to the actual name of your USB flash drive found in the lsblk command output.

Updated on November 9th, 2020

The aim of this article is presenting how to delete and remove partition from USB drive in Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista and Windows XP. Deleting partition can be done via various methods and this instruction includes four cases of removing partition on USB disk.

Deleting partition is the process of removing volumes and data, which is one of the most common operations users do to storage device in order to manage or make best of disk capacity. A disk partition is a logical storage area on hard drive and a disk can contain multiple partitions. A new hard drive usually contains a single partition which means you can see the drive in File Explorer after it is well connected to PC.

However, users prefer to add more partitions on the disk so that files and operating system can be stored in separate sections without conflicts. Partitions on disk can be formatted to various file system such as NTFS, FAT, exFAT, ext4, etc. so that they can be access by different operating system. Once a partition is created, you can store all kinds of data on it, for example, photos, documents, emails, applications, backup, etc.

Similarly, a USB drive should be partitioned before it can be used to store data. Most of us deem that a USB drive can only be divided into a single partition, but it is not always the story. Actually, both USB flash drive and SD card can be divided into multiple partitions and these partitions can be managed by partition manager. Thus, we can create, delete, format, hide, clone or back up these partitions when necessary. Since partition is the container of our data, the deletion of partition definitely leads to data loss. There are still reasons explaining why people want to delete partition on SD card, USB drive or hard disk.

Here is one of such issue found on online community:

'Recently I downloaded a program which is able to make bootable disk for flash drive. I tried that software, and it creates two small partitions and leaves 13.87GB unallocated space. Now the disk does not show in File Explorer, but I can see it in Disk Management. I want to revert the flash drive to one single partition as before. However, when I right-click on one of the partition, the option 'Delete Volume' is not available. What's more, other options like Extend, Format are also greyed. What can I do to remove these two partitions? Btw, My computer is running Windows 7.'

Although deleting USB partition brings about data loss issue, there are still many users what to delete volumes from USB disk, SD card or hard drive. Here are some reasons they do so:

• To delete extra partition. There is usually a single partition on USB flash drive or SD card, and extra partition cannot be accessed and should be deleted.
• To wipe a USB drive. Many users believe deleting partition can complete wipe the USB drive, and thus they would like to try delete partition.
• To remove write-protection. In some cases, the removing of partition can fix the 'The disk is write protected' issue occurred on USB drive.
• To repartition USB drive. Delete all partitions on USB drive which is not properly partitioned and create new partition.
• To restore USB drive back to full capacity. If a USB flash drive contains two or more partition, Windows prior to Windows 10 can access the first partition. Thus you won't be able to utilize all capacity. In that case, you'll want to delete extra partitions to restore USB drive back to full capacity.
• To get rid of virus. Virus or malware will be removed once partition is deleted.
• To repair damaged partition. Delete corrupted partition and create a new one.

It is important to note that when you delete partition from USB disk, you'll lose all information in that partition. Therefore, a full backup of important data should be done before deleting anything. If you failed to back up data, you'll have to perform USB drive recovery.

Deleting partition cannot completely wipe data on the USB flash drive, and lost partition and files are still recoverable. If you want to permanently erase data on USB drive, you can use PartitionGuru to wipe a disk.

There is more than one method to delete partition from USB drive, and you should choose the one that is easier to you. Complicated operation may lead to extra issue, for example delete wrong partition.

Disk Management in Windows 10 improves performance on USB drive, as Windows 10 becomes able to access second partition on USB disk. The 'Delete Volume' is available to delete USB partition. If your computer haven't upgraded to Windows 10, you can move to rest method to delete partition on USB disk or memory card.

Step 1: Open Disk Management by right-clicking Start menu and choosing Disk Management.

Step 2: Locate the USB drive and the partition to be deleted. Right-click on it and select 'Delete Volume' option from context menu.

Step 3: System prompts the deletion causes data and asks to backup data in advance. Click 'Yes' button if you have created a backup.

DiskPart.exe is a text-mode command interpreter that enables you to manage objects (disks, partitions, or volumes) by using scripts or direct input from a command prompt. It is able to create, delete and format partition. It is recommend that average users use this tool cautiously, as it enables explicit control of partitions and disks.

How To Completely Wipe A Flash Drive Windows 7

Step 1: Launch Diskpart from your compute. Press Windows + R to open Run window where you should type diskpart and click OK. Click Yes button if you are prompted by User Account Control.

Step 2: In the Command Prompt type list volume and press Enter key. Then all partition on your computer will be listed and each volume is followed with a number. Identify the partition you want to delete and remember the number.

Step 3: Type select volume # and press Enter. Please replace # with the number of the volume to be deleted. How to play fortnite on computer without downloading it.

Step 4: Type delete volume and press Enter. Close Command Prompt when you see 'DiskPart successfully deleted the selected partition'

In this solution, we'll use a free Windows partition manager – Eassos PartitionGuru to delete partition. This tool provides all-inclusive features to manage partitions for various storage devices. As to USB disk partition, Eassos PartitionGuru can do these for you:

• Create, delete, format and hide partition on USB drive, SD card, portable drive, etc.
• Resize, split, extend partition on USB disk as well as add unallocated space to partition without data loss
• Clone & image partition for USB drive to help create backup copy
• Complete wipe data on USB disk to protect sensitive data
• Check & repair bad sectors on USB flash drive to fix disk damages
• Partition & repartition USB disk
• Support multiple file system formats: NTFS, FAT32, exFAT, Ext2, Ext3, Ext4, etc.
• Recover deleted files and partitions from USB drive

Now we'll show you how to delete a partition from USB drive using this free partition manager:

Step 1: Insert the USB drive from which you want to delete partition to your computer. Then install and launch Eassos PartitionGuru.

Step 2: Select the partition to be deleted in the software and click the Delete button from toolbar.

Step 3: Click Yes button when PartitionGuru asks confirmation for the operation.

Step 4: Click 'Save All' button to save changes to partition table. Click Yes button and the partition will be deleted successfully.

How can i download google chrome in english. This method is able to delete all partitions on a disk at one time, and it is very convenient when there are multiple partitions to be deleted.

Step 1: Launch Eassos PartitionGuru from your computer and locate the USB drive whose partitions need to be deleted.

Step 2: Right-click on the USB drive from the disk directory on the left pane and choose 'Delete All Partitions' option.

Step 3: Click Yes button when PartitionGuru prompts 'Are you sure you want to delete all the partitions on current disk? All files in it will be lost'.

How much does microsoft cost. Step 4: Click Save All button to save disk changes to partition table.

This part is written for those who accidentally deleted partition and lose data. This guide will show you how to search for lost or deleted partitions and restore them to previous status.

Erase Flash Drive Windows 10

Step 1: Launch Eassos PartitionGuru from computer. Select the disk where lost partitions were located and click 'Search Lost Partition (Partition Recovery)' under Tools menu.

Step 2: Click Start button on the 'Search for Lost Partition' window and the software starts to look for lost volumes.

Step 3: Preview files in each partition found by the software and decide whether it is one of your lost partitions.

Select 'Reserve' if the partition is correct and click 'Ignore' if the partition is not the one you want to restore.

Step 4: Click Save All button to save lost partitions to partition table and get them recovered.

In this instruction, you can find 4 methods to remove partition from USB drive, such as delete partition using Disk Management, Diskpart command and partition manager. Deleting partition cases data loss and you should make a backup in advance. Besides, we also present solutions to restore deleted partitions and files in the last part. If you feel this article useful, please feel free to share it with your friends.

USB drives are majorly preferred and used by most people due to their high level of flexibility. For instance, they can be passed from one person to another in the form of gifts. The only thing which is required is that you will need to delete every data in order to ensure your privacy.

However, this isn't so easy as you might think as there are times when you may not be able to wipe a USB drive. There is no need to panic as this post will be helping you out today.

When Would You Need to Wipe a USB Drive?

There are different scenarios that can require you to wipe data from a USB drive. Some of them are:

1. When more space is required for storing more data and files.

2. When you want to remove unknown virus from such USB drive.

3. When you want to get its file format system changed like from NTFS to Ext4 or exFAT.

4. When sensitive information needs to get deleted.

How to Permanently Wipe USB Drive?

Simple deletion or formatting can't wipe data from USB drive completely. As data can be recovered easily in such case with the help of recovery software. However, there are solutions to erase USB drive thoroughly. We'll explain in details below.

How To Completely Wipe A Flash Drive

1Using In-built Format Option

The use of built-in format option can help you wipe your USB drive permanently. The process is simple to carry out by following the steps below:

Step 1: Get the USB drive inserted into your system. It should be detected within 1-2 seconds.

Step 2: Go to My Computer after which you will need to locate your USB flash drive. Once you have done that, right click on it.

Step 3: Locate the option which says 'Format' and click on it.

Step 4: An interface will pop up showing you details about your device. Locate the option which says 'Start' below and click on it. Just wait for some few minutes until the process is complete. It will display 'Format Successful' once it gets completed.

2Using the DiskPart Command Line Tool

In case you can't seem to make use of the above method for one reason or the other, it is also possible to wipe USB drive permanently via the use of diskpart command line tool.

You can follow the steps outlined below in order to effectively perform this process.

Step 1: At your screen's bottom-left, get the Windows button clicked on. Now, type in 'cmd' and click on 'Command Prompt' option that it will show you.

Step 2: Enter 'Diskpart command' to start.

Step 3: The program is going to load after which you will see 'DISKPART>'.

Step 4: You will need to enter 'List Disk'. Through this, every device that is connected to your system will be listed. You can use the space of your USB drive to identify it. The USB drives will be numbered like 1,2,3 and so on.

Step 5: 'Select disk # command' should be entered. Ensure that # is replaced with your USB drive's number as explained in the above step.

Step 6: 'Disk # is now the selected disk' is going to be displayed on your screen.

Step 7: Enter 'Clean'.

Step 8: The process of getting your USB drive wiped is going to commence. Its completion time will depend on the size of your drive.

3Use a Third-party Tool - EaseUS Partition Master

You can make use of a third-party tool such as EaseUS Partition Master to wipe USB drive. Follow the steps which are outlined below to make the process work.

Step 1: Get your external device connected to your system and get EaseUS Partition Master launched. It will display your device. Get it right clicked on and choose 'Wipe Data'.

Step 2: Get the number of times which such device should be wiped chosen with 10 being the highest. After that, click on 'OK'.

Step 3: A message will popup informing you that system restart is recommended after the process is complete. Click on 'OK' to continue.

Step 4: Locate 'Execute the operation' at the upper left and click on it. Now click on 'Apply' in order to begin the data wiping process.

Just wait for some time and your USB drive will become empty once again.

Bonus: How to Recover Accidentally Deleted Files from USB Drive?

Have you deleted your files accidentally and don't know what to do? Do you know that with the use of AnyRecover such files can be recovered within few minutes?

iMyFone AnyRecover has been built with some of the most sophisticated and advanced file recovery features. It means that you don't have to bother as it will do all of the hard work to ensure that your files are recovered in the best way possible.

Key Features of AnyRecover:

Any form of data loss can be easily recovered. It could be due to formatted hard drive, accidentally deleted files, damaged drive, virus attack and others.

Any type of file can be easily recovered whether such is audio, photo, document, or even video.

Files can be recovered from any device. This could be digital camera, smart phone, USB flash drive, memory card and others.

Data and files can be safely recovered without being overwritten.

Deep scan and preview available ensure accurate and complete recovery.

Steps to Recover Deleted Files from USB Drive:

Step 1: Get AnyRecover tool launched on your system. Choose the location where such data was lost selected. It could be external drive, hard drive or others.

Step 2: After you have selected a location, hit 'Start' button to begin scanning for your lost data.

Step 3: At this point, just preview the lists to find the files you want. After that, click on 'Recover' button to get them back.

Conclusion

There are lots of methods which enable you to wipe USB drive without any hassle. However, if you accidentally deleted important files, here we recommend you to try AnyRecover since it is very flexible and user-friendly. You'll find recovering lost files has never been so easy.