Fixed: Cannot Delete Volume on USB Drive in Windows 10/8/7

Cannot delete Volume on USB

“I am in Computer Management. I am the owner of the USB volume, there is no sharing, the partition is empty, and I can't delete it since the Delete Volume option is greyed out. So why it happens and how can I delete it successfully? Any ideas, thanks a lot!”

Why Disk Management cannot delete volume on USB?

Deleting the volume on USB flash drive is usually considered as an effective way to free up disk space, clean the disk or fix some other disk errors. But sometimes it can be a tough task since the “Delete Volume” is unclickable in Disk Management. This issue always happens on previous versions of Windows OS, where your USB flash drive is regarded as a removable device. And the operating system does not allow users to delete partition on this kind of device. Besides, only 1 recognizable partition can be created on removable device.

If your system is Windows 10 Version 1803 or later versions, you can easily remove partition on USB drive since Windows 10 1803 already supports this operation.

How to delete volume from USB successfully in Windows 11/10 PC?

Does the above explanation imply that is there no way to delete partition on USB stick when Disk Management cannot do that? Absolutely NO! Apart from using Disk Management, you can make use of Diskpart or a professional disk manager to perform such operation.

Precaution: If there are some important files in this partition you will delete, please make a backup first via free AOMEI Backupper.

Method 1. Delete volume on USB using DiskPart

DiskPart is a command-line utility Windows 11/10 operating system offers. With the DiskPart, you can remove the write-protection from USB, create primary partition and more. So when the Disk Management cannot delete partition on USB drive, DiskPart is a nice alternative.

First of all, type cmd in “Search” box, right click CMD.exe and run it as administrator to enter CMD window, then input the following commands (each typing ends with hitting on “Enter”).

• diskpart

• list disk: all the hard drives on your computer will be displayed.

• select disk n: n stands for the disk number of your USB (here we take disk 1 as example).

• list partition: a list of all the partitions on the USB will appear.

• select partition n: n is the number of the partition you want to delete (ex: partition 1)

• delete partition

If you want to delete all the partitions on the disk, just retype selection partition number and delete partition. After deleting every partition, you can type “create partition primary” and hit enter to create a new partition on the USB drive.

WARNING: DiskPart is a command based program, so it is easy for computer users, especially the newbies, to make mistaken operation. If you type a wrong disk or partition number, you will delete the wrong partition and lose everything inside. In this case, you can use a professional partition recovery wizard to get it back.

Method 2. Easily remove partition from USB drive via freeware

When you are unable to delete partition on USB in Windows Disk Management, we would like to recommend using a powerful disk management program- AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard. This freeware can help you easily delete partition from USB drives and other external hard drives in Windows 11/10/8/8.1/7, Vista and XP.

As to USB disk partition, AOMEI Partition Assistant can do these for you:
● Create, delete, format or hide partition on USB drive, SD card, etc.
● Resize, split, extend, merge partitions on USB drive or add unallocated space to another existing partition.
● Clone USB drive to back up or transfer data.
● Wipe USB drive to completely erase data from USB stick to protect sensitive data.
● Check and repair bad sectors on USB drive.
● Partition or repartition USB drive.

To delete volume on USB via AOMEI Partition Assistant:

1. Download the freeware and connect your USB to a Windows computer (make sure it is detected). Install and launch the software. Right click the partition you want to delete, and choose “Delete Partition”.

2. Choose one way of deleting the partition, and click “OK”.

3. Back to the main interface, hit on “Apply” and “Proceed” to begin to delete USB partition.

Same steps can also apply to remove recovery partition as well as delete EFI system partition on disks.

Final Words

Now you would know what to do when the Disk Management cannot delete volume on USB. Both Diskpart and AOMEI Partition Assistant are great tools to help manage disk partitions like deleting hidden partition on USB drive. But AOMEI Partition Assistant is more versatile since it can also clone/merge/move/resize/wipe partition on USB drive and other storage device.

If you upgrade to Professional edition, you can enjoy more amazing functions like splitting partitions, cloning Windows partition, migrating OS drive between MBR and GPT disks, converting boot disk between MBR and GOT without deleting partitions, and more. For Windows Server users to conveniently manage disk partitions, AOMEI Partition Assistant Server is highly recommended.