How to Format 16GB SanDisk Pen Drive?

Content

→ Two ways to format 16GB SanDisk pen drive
→ Cannot format SanDisk pen drive in Windows
→ Three effective solutions for unable to format SanDisk pen drive
→ Conclusion

Two ways to format 16GB SanDisk pen drive

SanDisk pen drive (like SanDisk 16GB pen drive Cruzer Blade) is a kind of popular data storage device. You may need to format it as it is unallocated, unable to save files or the current file system of it is not compatible with the device with which you want to use it. Then, have a look at how to format SanDisk pen drive with 16GB capacity in Windows.

A. Format SanDisk pen drive with File Explorer.

When the pen drive has been formatted with a certain file system and assigned it with a drive letter, you can format it in File Explorer. Do the following steps:

1. Double click This PC in Windows 10 (Computer in Windows 7) to open File Explorer.

2. Locate the drive that you want to format, right-click it and choose Format

3. In this window, choose a proper file system for your SanDisk pen drive.

B. Format SanDisk Pen Drive in Disk Management.

If the SanDisk USB flash stick is unallocated and without a drive letter, it won’t shows up in File Explorer. At this point, you can format it fromDisk Management by following steps given below:

1. Press Windows +R simultaneously to open Run window.

2. In this screen, input diskmgmt.msc and hit Enter key.

3. Right click the unallocated space on pen drive and choose New Simple Volume.

4. Do what New Simple Volume Wizard prompts to create a new partition with the unallocated space.

Cannot format SanDisk pen drive in Windows

However, you may fail to format the drive, receiving an error message like the format did not complete or the disk is write-protected. There are many elements that can account for the SanDisk pen drive format failure: write protection, bad sectors, virus attack, corrupted file system, and so on.

Three effective solutions for unable to format SanDisk pen drive

As you are unable to format SanDisk pen drive can be caused by many reasons, you should take corresponding solutions under different conditions.

Solution 1. Disable write protection on SanDisk pen drive

When the SanDisk 16GB or larger pen drive is in read-only status, it won’t allow you to format it. To format it successfully, you should remove write protection from SanDisk pen drive. Firstly, make sure that the write protection switch on SanDisk pen drive is in unlock position. If is but you still can’t format the SanDisk USB flash drive, you can clear read only attributes in Diskpart or adjust Registry Key from Registry Editor.

Clear Readonly attributes via Diskaprt

1. Open Run box, input diskpart and press Enter.

2. In the pop-up window, run the commands as follows:

• list disk

• select disk n, n is the number of the SanDisk 16GB pen drive

• disk attributes clear readonly

Then run the following commands to clean and create new partition on the pen drive:

• clean

• create partition primary

• format fs=ntfs quick

• assign letter=f

Adjust Value data in Registry

1. In Run box, type regedit and hit Enter.

2. In Registry Editor, go to the following path:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\StorageDevicePolicies

3. Double click WriteProtect and set the Value Data to 0. Then, click OK.

After changing the Value Data to 0, you can try to format the pen drive again.

Solution 2. Run CHKDSK to check and fix errors

When the 16GB SanDisk pen drive unable to format due to corrupted file system, you can run CHKDSK.exe to fix it.

1. In Run window, input cmd and press Enter to open Command Prompt.

2. Type chkdsk G: /f and press Enter. G is the drive letter assigned to the partition that you need to fix.

Then, open File Explorer and format the SanDisk pen drive with a wanted file system.

Solution 3. Turn to third-party format tool for pen drive

If the two solutions mentioned above are not working, it is time to use a third-party format tool. Here AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard is highly recommended. It enables you to format RAW pen drive in success. Beyond that, it allows you to format a large pen drive like 64GB SanDisk pen drive with FAT32 file system and make conversion between NFFS and FAT32 without data loss.

Free download it and have a look at how to format SanDisk pen drive with 16GB capacity using AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard.

1. Install and run it. Right-click the partition on SanDisk pen drive and choose Format Partition.

2. It pops up a window where you can set the file system of this partition. Then, click OK.

3. Click Apply and Proceed to commit this operation.

✍ Notes:
✔ It is compatible with Windows 10/8.1/8/7, XP, and Vista.
✔ You can enjoy advanced features like filling hard drive with random, partition recovery and etc. if you upgrade it to Professional version.

Conclusion

During the daily use of SanDisk pen drive or SD card, it is inevitable to format it for different reasons. In general, you can format it to within File Explorer or Disk Management. But if the SanDisk pen drive is write-protected or becomes RAW format, you may need to know how to format it using Diskpart or a third-party format tool.