[Comprehensive Guide] How Do I Format My SSD to UEFI?

Can I format my SSD to UEFI?

Before we discuss this problem, let’s get to know something about UEFI.

UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) is a modern replacement for the older BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) firmware. It's a system firmware that provides a more advanced way to interface between the operating system, hardware, and firmware. That is to say, UEFI is a firmware interface, and you cannot format your SSD to UEFI. Formatting your SSD refers to the process of preparing it to store data, and it's not directly related to transitioning to UEFI.

But when it comes to UEFI, we cannot avoid another topic, the partition table. A partition table is like a blueprint that guides your computer in organizing and understanding the data on your storage drive.

When your computer boots, UEFI reads the partition table on your storage drive to locate the partition that holds the operating system's bootloader. This bootloader is a small program that helps start the operating system. The partition table provides information about where these crucial files are located on the drive.

If you wish to adapt your SSD for UEFI compatibility, you should adjust the partition table. UEFI systems typically necessitate the use of the GPT (GUID Partition Table) partitioning scheme.

How do I format my SSD to UEFI with changing the partition table?

To get an SSD to UEFI, we need to divide the process into three parts. First, check your partition table to determine if it's MBR or GPT. If it's MBR, you can then follow the second part to convert it to GPT. Otherwise, you can proceed directly to the third part, which provides guidance on changing the boot mode to UEFI.

Part 1. Check the partition table via Disk Management

The partition table exists on your SSD (Solid-State Drive) or any storage device that holds data. To check whether your partition table is MBR or GPT, you can use Disk Management.

Step 1. Click your right mouse button on "This PC" or "My Computer", then pick "Manage".

Step 2. In the opened "Computer Management" window, tap on "Storage", and then choose "Disk Management".

Step 3. Right-click the specific disk you're interested in, select "Properties", head to "Volumes", and you'll see the partition style listed there.

Part 2. Convert MBR to GPT

▌Method 1. Use Command Prompt to convert MBR to GPT (Data Loss)
Windows inbuilt tools like Disk Management and Diskpart tools allow you to convert an empty SSD to MBR or GPT. In other words, you need to first delete all existing partitions to ensure the disk in an empty state. So, kindly please back up all important data in advance, and then you can follow the steps to convert.

Step 1. Open the "Run" dialog by pressing "Windows" + "R" keys at the same time. Type in "diskpart" and hit Enter.

Step 2. In the DISKPART command prompt, enter the following commands one by one, pressing Enter after each:

Note:

You can't change the main disk to GPT while Windows is on it. You have to use WinPE mode to do the switch.

▌Method 2. Safely convert MBR to GPT without data loss (Recommend)
How to change GPT to MBR without formatting or losing any data? AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional can do that. This versatile and multifunctional disk management tool allows users to convert between MBR/GPT without formatting and data loss. Now, let’s do it together.

Step 1. Install and launch AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional, right-click on the hard drive you want to convert and select “Convert to MBR”.

Step 2. Confirm the notification and hit “OK”

Step 3. Hit “Apply” on the upper left of the home interface as the screenshot shows to commit the pending operation.

Wait a short while before it’s completed.

Part 3. Change the boot mode to UEFI

▌Method 1. Access to EFI Setup menu
After converting MBR to GPT, now, you can follow the steps to change to boot mode to UEFI.

Step 1. Generally, you can press specific keys to enter the EFI Setup menu. The keys are often Del for desktops, F2 for laptops, or Esc. And the keys may also vary from the different brands.

Step 2. When you get into the interface, navigate to “Boot” section and then enable UEFI.

Step 3. After configuration, you can press F10 to save the settings and exit.

▌Method 2. Easily change boot mode with AOMEI Partition Assistant
If you've got AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional installed, ou can use the UEFI/BIOS Boot Options Manager to easily change to UEFI boot mode without needing hotkeys. This lets you access the UEFI BIOS Boot Manager for quick adjustments to boot sequence and other settings.

Note: 

This tool also helps you change the boot order while your PC is on. It can provide the option to back up the current boot settings, show a comprehensive list of boot settings and device information, and let remove unnecessary boot options.

Step 1. Install AOMEI Partition Assistant, click “Tools” in the top menu, and choose “UEFI BIOS Boot Options Manager” function.

Step 2. Please just click the option "Enter UEFI BIOS configuration interface directly only at next boot time".

Step 3. If you tick this option, the computer will directly boot into the UEFI BIOS configuration interface at the next boot time. After the option is executed once, your computer will still boot from the defaulted first entry.

Step 4. After you manage the boot options, you can click the "Restart Now" button to restart your computer immediately if needed.

Conclusion

How do I format my SSD to UEFI? Just to clarify, formatting your SSD pertains to preparing it for data storage and isn't directly tied to the transition to UEFI. If you're looking to change the boot mode using your SSD, it is recommend to follow the provided instructions.

To effectively reach the goal, AOMEI Partition Assistant can help you a lot. Apart from the practical functions we mentioned before, it can also be used to migrate OS to SSD, clone disks and move apps from one drive to another. What’s more, there is also the Server Edition can be chosen for Windows Server users.