You may need to format SSD from BIOS for certain reasons. But can you complete the formatting in BIOS successfully? This post is a complete tutorial collecting 3 feasible methods to help you format SSD from boot on a Windows computer.
In the process of using a computer, it's common to format a solid-state drive for different purposes such as changing a new file system, preparing for selling or for Windows installation, etc and it's easy to get it done within Windows.
But there are two scenarios where people think it’s troublesome to make the hard drive formatted: One is to format an SSD with OS on it and the other is to format a hard drive on a dead computer.
In order to complete the formatting in such two situations, users are seeking countermeasures. That's why a number of users ask on the forums whether they can format SSD from BIOS. However, when they get into the BIOS, they find there is no option to format. Why does this happen? The next part will explain it to you.
To figure out this question, you need to know what BIOS is and what format drives. Firstly, BIOS is short for basic input/output system. When you boot up your computer, it is BIOS that detects the hard drive and checks whether all attachments a bootable computer needs are in place and operational. After starting the PC, the operating system will allow you to format hard drives (except the current system disk).
Therefore, can you format a drive via BIOS? We can draw a conclusion that the answer is no. The feature of BIOS is to recognize the normal function of drives, how can it allows you to empty the device.
But why do so many users still wonder how to format a hard drive from BIOS? This is because you can change the boot order in BIOS settings and boot from a Windows bootable CD/DVD or USB flash drive to perform the formatting. That is to say, it's practical for you to format an HDD or SSD through BIOS.
In this part, you will see three workable methods we collected for you to format a hard disk in BIOS. Note that both Method 1 and Method 2 require you to create a Windows Installation Media in advance, you can read this post to get the detailed tutorial:
3 Methods to Create Bootable USB Windows 10 [Full Guide]
After the creation of the Windows media tool, let's get started to see the stepwise guide on how to format SSD from BIOS Windows 10.
To begin with, Command Prompt gives a helping hand to execute the formatting operation. If your computer can run normally, you can easily format drives to NTFS using DiskPart. However, if you can’t boot the computer or the to-be-formatted drive is with Windows on it, you need to set the Windows installation USB drive as the boot device in BIOS to enter Command Prompt and format the SSD. Here are the steps:
Step 1. Boot your computer from this Windows bootable media.
Step 2. Then, you will be presented with a Windows Setup window. Here, you need to set your preferred Language, architecture, and edition, then click "Next".
Step 3. Click "Repair your computer" in the next window.
Step 4. Then, select "Troubleshoot".
Step 5. In the following page, there are several advanced options. Just click "Command Prompt" to open it.
Step 6. When you launch Command Prompt, you need to find the system partition first because it may be shown with another drive letter instead of the letter C. Type the following commands:
diskpart
list volume (to list all the existing volume on your SSD)
exit (to exit diskpart.exe)
dir F: (If F drive is not your system drive, replace it with the drive letter of any existing volume like C, D, E until you locate the OS drive.)
Step 7. Then follow the below commands and begin to format SSD from BIOS via Command Prompt.
format F: /fs:ntfs (F refers to the drive letter of the system drive you have found in the last step)
Y
Step 8. Then, you can repeat the commands to format all other existing partitions on the solid state drives.
The second method is more suitable for those who need to reinstall Windows operating system. If you are the one who needs to format partitions for the purpose of OS reinstallation, you can boot from the Windows installation USB drive and format the target drive during the Windows installation procedure. Below is the detailed tutorial on how to format SSD from BIOS Windows 10:
Step 1. When you see this picture after finishing Step 1 and 2 the same as in method 1, select "Install now" instead of "Repair your computer".
Step 2. Enter your product key or skip it by clicking "I don't have a product key" in the "Activate Windows", accept the License Terms and select "Custom: Install Windows only(advanced)".
Step 3. Then all the partitions of the drive(s) will be detected and displayed. Select the drive you want to install Windows on, and click "Format". And you will receive a warning message, click "OK" to continue and then click "Next".
Compared with the previous two methods, turning to professional third-party software is the easiest solution. Here, we recommend you to try AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional. It is a reputable SSD format tool that applies to all kinds of scenarios:
✿ Format any type of hard drive: SSD, HDD, USB flash drive, SD card, etc. ✿ Format both the data partition and system partition. ✿ Format drives on a computer that can't boot. ✿ Format hard drive larger than 32GB to FAT32 (which is not supported within Windows features) ✿ Format a partition in various states like write-protected, BitLocker, etc. ✿ ......
Most importantly, all steps are very easy. Even if you are a computer novice, you can easily and quickly format a drive through BIOS settings with the help of AOMEI Partition Assistant. Follow the below steps to experience the quickest formatting process.
Step 1. Prepared a USB flash drive and insert it into a running computer. Install and run AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional. Click "Make Bootable Media" under "Tools" menu and click "Next".
Step 2. Choose your prepared USB in the "USB Boot Device" section and click "Proceed".
Step 3. Wait patiently and then, click "Finish".
Then, you will get a bootable USB with AOMEI software pre-installed on it. Continue to read the following steps to see how to format SSD from BIOS Windows 10/11/8/7.
Step 4. Connect the USB with the computer on which you wish to format the drive, enter the BIOS settings, and boot your PC from this bootable media. Then, you will be taken to the main interface of AOMEI product.
Step 5. Right-click the partition you want to format, and then select "Format Partition".
Step 6. In the pop-up window, you could reset the partition label, file system, and the cluster size. Click "OK" to confirm the changes.
Step 7. Finally, click "Apply" and "Proceed" to execute the operation.
As you can see from the above steps, AOMEI Partition Assistant has a user-friendly interface displaying all your hard drives clearly so that you can format SSD from BIOS with just several clicks without typing complicated commands or reinstalling Windows.
Since many people need to format SSD from BIOS due to various reasons, this post is written to provide you with the solutions. In method 1 and 2, you have to create a Windows installation media to complete the formatting, which is complex for a Windows beginner. Thus, in method 3, we show you an easier procedure of using a reliable disk formatting tool - AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional.
If you want to format SSD through BIOS on a Windows Server computer, you can try AOMEI Partition Assistant Server edition.