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. There is a user wrote this:

I am trying to install Windows 10 onto my SSD drive, and it comes with the error message:

Windows detected that the EFI system partition was formatted as NTFS. Format the EFI system partition as FAT32, and restart the installation.

Thus, I put the SSD in my laptop and format as FAT32, when I do that, I get it telling me that it needs to be formatted to NTFS. I am so confused with the problem; please help me out, thanks.

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 approximate 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 the boot time.

The EFI system partition must to 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 from the accidental deletion or modify.

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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?

Sometimes, you may want to delete EFI system partition for some reasons. 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 AOMEI Partition Assistant.

#1: DiskPart

1. Press Windows + R to open the run dialog box, input diskpart and hit enter.

2. Then type the following commands,and execute one by one to delete EFI system partition:

• list disk

• select disk n(the n is the disk number of the system disk)

• list partition

• select partition n (the n is the drive letter of EFI system partition)

• delete partition override

• exit

#2: AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional

Another easier way to delete EFI system partition is taking advantage of AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional, which is a powerful partition manager for Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, 8.1, 10 and 11. Here are the steps to delete:

1. Install AOMEI Partition Assistant and launch it.

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

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

After you deleting EFI system partition, you will get an unallocated space, you could merge it to another partition to extend the free space. In addition, you might want to move EFI system partition and create EFI system partition, AOMEI Partition Assistant will satisfy you easily. You are also allowed to allocate free space, quick partition, use command line utility, and migrate OS to SSD, etc.