Recently, when I tried to access my USB drive, I got an error saying, “You need to format the disk in drive before you can use it.” I don’t understand why this happened because I’ve always kept the USB drive in a safe place and safely ejected it. If I click “Format,” I’ll lose my important files. Does anyone have any advice on how to fix this error?
The error means the USB drive’s file system is likely damaged. Don’t click “Format,” or you’ll lose your files. First, check if the drive appears as RAW in Disk Management. Then use recovery tools like Stellar Data Recovery, Recuva or TestDisk to recover your data. Avoid saving anything new to the drive, as that could overwrite existing files. Once your data is recovered, you can safely format the drive for future use.
100% agree with you. Don’t click “Format” and seek help from data recovery tools or services to retrieve accessible data from your USB first. Then,use efficient ways to fix your USB according to the possible reason.
If you receive this error message, it implies that your USB drive has become RAW and rendered unusable.
Have you ever experienced a sudden power outage or had your PC infected by a virus? Or did you run Disk Check, a Windows built-in utility to check if there are any bad sectors on your USB? All these factors can lead to this error warning.
Try CHKDSK /R which will try to recover any damaged files
I suggest exFAT for USB sticks
Try different USB ports on your computer. Sometimes it’s just a port-specific glitch.
If possible, test the USB drive on another computer or even a different operating system (like macOS or Linux). Occasionally, another system might be able to read the drive even if your current one can’t.
Has the USB drive been used for a long time? Flash drives have limited lifespans, and if it’s been years, hardware aging might be a factor. If so, it might be time to consider replacing it with a new one.
Hi! That message usually means the file system on your USB drive is corrupted or unreadable by Windows. Do NOT click “Format” yet if you want to recover the data. There are safer options you can try first:
Run CHKDSK: Open Command Prompt as admin and type chkdsk X: /f (replace X with your USB drive letter). This may fix minor corruption without data loss.
Try data recovery software: Tools like EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard can scan the drive and recover your files before any formatting.
Check on another computer or OS: Sometimes macOS or Linux can access the data when Windows cannot.
Only consider formatting as a last resort after you’ve recovered important files. Hope this helps!
And you can check detailed tutorials in this guide.
