Windows Detected that the EFI System Partition was Formatted as NTFS: How to Fix

Windows detected that the EFI system partition was formatted as NTFS

Sometimes, you will be prompted by the error message: Windows detected that the EFI system partition was formatted as NTFS

If you've encountered this error, you're not alone. This issue can prevent your system from booting properly and may arise when configuring partitions or reinstalling Windows. In this guide, we'll explain why this error occurs, how it affects your system, and provide step-by-step solutions to fix it. Whether you're troubleshooting a boot failure or ensuring your EFI partition is correctly formatted, we've got you covered.

What is an EFI System partition?

EFI system partition (ESP) is a partition on a data storage device and used by computers adhering to the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI). EFI system partition capacity is approximately 100~500MB and contains the boot loaders, device driver files, and system utility programs, and data files such as error logs. UEFI firmware loads those files stored on the ESP to start Windows at boot time.

The EFI system partition must be formatted to FAT32 while Windows must be installed to a partition formatted as NTFS. Usually, you will generate an EFI system partition after installing Windows on a GPT disk. EFI system partition has no drive letter by default to prevent accidental deletion or modification.

How to fix "Windows detected that the EFI system partition was formatted as NTFS" error

It’s easy to solve NTFS EFI system partition error. Delete all the partitions on the HDD until there is only unallocated space and then click the next key, the Windows will create partitions itself. You don’t have to change EFI system partition to FAT32 manually. Here are the steps:

Note: If you have important profiles on your HDD, please backup first, and then do the following steps.

Step 1. Restart your PC. Press F2, F9, F10, Del, or Esc to enter your BIOS to set your PC boot from the installation USB stick or DVD drive. Save the changes of the settings.

Step 2. Insert your installation USB stick or DVD drive and restart your PC. Now your PC should now boot into the Windows Setup program.

Step 3. Choose language, time and currency format and input method, and click Next.

Step 4. Press Install Now button. Enter your Windows Key if prompted, read and accept the software license.

Step 5. Select Custom: Install Windows only (advanced) at the Which type of installation do you want window.

Step 6. At the next window, you will be prompted: Where do you want to install Windows? And several partitions (if your disk had an operating system previously) will show up. Click the partition and choose Delete, and delete one by one until there are only unallocated space.

Then the Windows installation process will go on smoothly. The Windows detected that the EFI system partition was formatted as NTFS problem will be solved now.

How to delete EFI system partition easily

Normally, an EFI partition is used for computer booting. It acts as an interface for the PC to boot Windows off, and without it, the PC can’t successfully boot into Windows. 

However, if the EFI partition is corrupted or causing boot issues, users may need to delete it before reinstalling Windows to ensure a clean installation. And some users who previously had multiple operating systems may delete the EFI partition to remove boot entries related to an uninstalled OS.

But mostly, if Windows fails to boot due to EFI-related issues, deleting and recreating the EFI partition can sometimes resolve the problem.

Generally speaking, EFI system partition cannot be deleted in Windows operating system. Thus, you will find delete volume is greyed out in Disk Management. How to delete EFI system partition easily? There are two ways to delete: DiskPart and a third-party disk manager.

#1: Use Diskpart to delete EFI partition

The problem of using Diskpart to delete EFI partition is that users cannot delete the EFI partition using Command Prompt (CMD) while Windows is running because it is a protected system partition. Windows prevents modifications to the EFI partition to avoid boot failures.

However, users can delete the EFI partition using CMD by booting into Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) or using a bootable USB drive.

Step 1. Restart your computer and press F8, F11, or Shift + F10 (varies by manufacturer) to enter WinRE. Alternatively, boot from a Windows installation USB and select Repair your computer > Troubleshoot > Command Prompt.

Step 2. Aftr opening Disk Partition tool, type diskpart and press Enter. Then type the following commands carefully, make sure you choose the correct hard disk if you have more than one hard disk on your PC. You need to press Enter after typing each command.

list disk 
select disk X (replace X with the correct disk number)
list partition 
select partition Y (replace Y with the EFI partition number)
delete partition override 

#2: Delete EFI partition via third-party disk manager tool

Another easier way to delete EFI system partition is taking advantage of AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional, which is a powerful partition manager for Windows 7, 8, 8.1, 10 and 11. It helps auto-detect the hidden EFI partition and delete it in only a few clicks. And you can also perform other handy functions, such as partition alignment, hard drive wiping, disk cloning...

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Step 1. Install AOMEI Partition Assistant and launch it.

Step 2. On the main window, right click EFI system partition and choose Delete Partition. 

Step 3. Then click OK after choosing delete method. And press Apply button to delete EFI system partition. 

Ending

After you delete EFI system partition, you won't boot into Windows OS again. We suggest you completely wipe the disk and reuse this old disk if it's still available. AOMEI Partition Assistant can also help you wipe hard disk and reset it for your next usage