Windows 10: Can't format USB flash drive

I have recently purchased a Sandisk Cruzerglide 32gb USB drive for personal use. the first time I used it was to download Windows 10 free to my new PC Sata storage and worked perfectly fine. Since then every time I plug the drive into my Windows 11 HP laptop and tried on the now Windows 11 free desktop it comes up with the message "the directory name is invalid". This is a problem because when I try to format the drive it always say's "windows is unable to format the drive" and all the websites online recommending ways to fix this don't have the issue, and can simply go into file explorer an

:)

 

How To Format A Write Protected Flash Memory ?

¿You already tried this one?...

Run CMD


1. diskpart
2. list disk

Then in the 3º step, put the correct number of disk in the list for the usb flash (if it's listed in disk 3, then you'll have to write select disk 3).

2. select disk #
3. clean
4. create partition primary
5. select partition 1
6. active
7. format fs=fat32
8. assign
9. exit

with that commands you will format the flash drive in fat32, if you have a large drive you can select also "format fs=ntfs" in step 7.

good luck!

 

USB flash drive won't read, wants to format.

What file system did your friend use to format the USB flash drive?
Linux, MAC, Windows, etc.... if, he did the project on a different file format; the system may not think there is anything useful and wants to format it to make usable.
Or, the drive has gotten corrupted (like your friend pulled the drive before it was finished and the file table/partition info/etc. is corrupt).
Static could have gotten it, too.

One of many recovery apps:
USB Flash Drive Data Recovery Software

Google has a sh*t load software to recovery and/or repair usb drives; but, be careful and always scan your downloads with a good a/v package.
usb flash drive recovery software

Just some ideas.*Smile

 

Converting or formatting a USB flash drive to fat32

Hi, I'm Anvar, I'd be glad to help you today on this

If FAT32 option not showing in format , suggest to use diskpart command line tool

kindly fellow below steps

1. Type cmd in windows search ad right cick on it and click run as administrator

2. Next you can type the command diskpart in Command Prompt window. Press Enter to launch DiskPart utility.

Then you can type the command "list disk", press Enter and all detected disks will be displayed with detailed information. Check carefully which disk is your USB drive. You may identify the USB by checking the size. n this example we are assuming it as disk 3

Step 4. Select and clean the target USB drive

Type the command "select disk 3" and press Enter to select the target USB flash drive. Then type "clean" command and press Enter. DiskPart will wipe disk data.

Step 5. Format USB flash drive/pen drive with CMD (Command Prompt)

Tip: Before you format USB using CMD, you can confirm again that you’ve selected the right disk, to avoid formatting the wrong disk. You can type list disk command again, press Enter, and the selected disk should have a “*” mark before the disk number.

After that, you can type the command create partition primary, and press Enter.

Then type the command "format fs=ntfs" or "format fs=fat32", and press Enter to format the USB flash drive to NTFS or FAT32 format. Optionally you can add a “quick” flag after the command for a faster format.

Step 6. Assign a drive letter for the USB

Continue to type the command "assign letter=h", replace “h” with the preferred drive letter you want to assign to the USB drive. Press Enter to assign a letter for the USB drive and make it visible in Windows File Explorer.

Type exit to close DiskPart and type exit to close Command Prompt window.

After formatting the USB flash drive in CMD (Command Prompt), the USB drive should be shown in Windows File Explorer and is available for storing files

Note :_ Exlude quotes while typing commands

(source :- minitool.com)

Hope this helps.