How to Format Seagate External Hard Drive on Windows 11 [6 Free Ways]

Do I need to format Seagate external hard drive for PC?

Before utilizing a new Seagate internal or external hard drive on Windows 11/10/8/7/XP/Vista, formatting is crucial. While most newly purchased external hard drives come preformatted, the formatting might be still necessary for several reasons:

1. Choosing a Different File System: While Seagate drives are often preformatted as NTFS, you might want to format the drive to FAT32, exFAT, or another file system for enhanced compatibility across various storage devices and operating systems.

2. Resolving Drive Issues: Formatting can resolve errors or issues encountered on Seagate external hard drives, providing a fresh start for optimal functionality.

3. Purchasing a Used Seagate Drive: If you've acquired a used drive, formatting may be necessary to clear previous data, ensuring a clean slate for your own storage needs.

Now, let's delve into how to format Seagate external hard drive Windows 11.

How to format Seagate external hard drive Windows 11

This section offers 6 free solutions for how to reformat Seagate external hard drive Windows 10/11, addressing formatting needs for both new and used drives. Let's have a quick look.

Applied cases	Solutions	Target users & advantages
Format a new Seagate external hard drive	Free format tool	✔ For all levels of Windows users, particularly beginners ✔ Free ✔ Step-by-step guides ✔ Intuitive interface
	Disk Management	✔ For seasoned Windows users ✔ Free
Format a used Seagate external hard drive	Free format tool	✔ For users at all Windows skill levels, especially beginners ✔ Free ✔ Easy-to-use ✔ User-friendly interface
	File Explorer	✔ For Windows beginners ✔ Free ✔ Easy-to-operate
	Disk Management	✔ For proficient Windows users ✔ Free
	Command Prompt	✔ Specifically for experienced Windows users ✔ Free

Case 1. Format a new Seagate external hard drive

To format a new hard drive, you need to initialize this disk and create new partitions on it, during which the drive will be simultaneously formatted. Follow these detailed guides to figure out how to format Seagate external hard drive to NTFS, exFAT, FAT32, and more file systems. You can use a recommended free format tool or Disk Management.

Way 1. Using a free format tool

For Windows beginners, consider the AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard. This professional and free format tool provides a one-stop solution for initializing disks and creating partitions, allowing you to format new disks at ease in almost all versions of Windows 11/10/8/7/XP/Vista.

Additionally, it provides free yet powerful features like re-sizing and moving partitions, extending, shrinking, and merging partitions without data loss, cloning disks, and cleaning up computers.

Step 1. Install and launch AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard.

Step 2. Right-click the raw disk and select "Initialize Disk".

Step 3. Choose MBR or GPT style and click "OK" to proceed.

Notes:✎...

MBR for drives under 2TB

GPT for drives over 2TB

Learn more about MBR vs GPT.

Step 4. Click "Apply" to save changes.

Step 5. Right-click the unallocated space, and select "Create Partition".

Step 6. Click "Advanced" to specify the file system and other partition details. Then click "OK" to continue.

★Tips:

You need to pick the most suitable file system according to your needs, such as NTFS vs FAT32, and NTFS or exFAT for SSD.

Setting the drive letter as "None" will hide the partition. Remember to set one.

Step 7. "Apply" the Pending Operations, and click "Proceed" to finalize.

Way 2. Using Disk Management

If you don't want to download a third-party formatting tool, Disk Management is a built-in Windows tool you can choose for managing drives. Follow these steps to format a new Seagate external hard drive:

Step 1. In the taskbar search box, type "Disk Management," right-click, and select "Run as administrator" > "Yes".

Step 2. Right-click the disk to initialize (online if listed as Offline), then select "Initialize Disk".

Step 3. Confirm the correct disk selection and choose the desired partition style (MBR or GPT). Click "OK".

Step 4. Right-click on unallocated space, and select "New Simple Volume".

Step 5. Follow the "New Simple Volume Wizard". Click "Next".

Step 6. Specify the volume size and click "Next".

Step 7. Choose the wanted file system and others to complete the formatting settings. Click "Next".

Step 8. Click "Finish" to complete the partitioning process.

Following the two ways will effectively initialize, partition, and format your new Seagate external hard drive. For Windows beginners, using a free format tool is strongly recommended.

Case 2. Format a used Seagate external hard drive

How to format the external hard drive that has been used? This part will introduce 4 methods to reformat Seagate external hard drives in Windows 11/10/8/7/XP. Please connect your drive properly to the computer in advance.

Warning: Formatting will erase all data on the drive. Therefore, if you're formatting a used drive that contains data, ensure to back up important files onto a computer or backup drive before formatting.

Way 1. Using a free format tool

The first and the easiest way is to let AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard help you fix how to format Seagate external hard drive Windows 11 for free. As a versatile disk formatting tool, AOMEI software can format hard drives of different sizes (even larger than 32GB), force format a RAW or read-only partition, and more.

With an intuitive interface and step-by-step guides, you can format a used Seagate external hard drive successfully with simple clicks.

Step 1. Launch AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard.

Step 2. Locate the Seagate drive, right-click it, and choose "Format Partition".

Step 3. Choose a preferred file system, and click "OK".

Step 4. Click "Apply" to save changes.

Now your Seagate external hard drive has been formatted successfully.

If the partition on the Seagate drive you want to format is smaller than 32GB, you can also use the following three ways that are offered by the Windows system.

Way 2. Using File Explorer

Although File Explorer is a program primarily designed to manage all your files stored on the computer, it can also be used to format the Seagate external hard drive. Follow these steps:

Step 1. Double-click "My Computer/This PC" to open File Explorer.

Step 2. Right-click the drive you need to format and select "Format…".

Step 3. Choose a preferred file system, tick "Quick Format", and click "Start".

Way 3. Using Disk Management

Disk Management is another Windows built-in tool for formatting used drives:

Step 1. Right-click "My Computer/This PC", and select "Manage" > "Storage" > "Disk Management" to open Disk Management.

Step 2. Right-click on the drive to format, and click on "Format…" in the drop-down menu.

Step 3. Select a preferred file system, and tick "Perform a quick format".

Step 4. Click "OK" to format the drive and wait until finished.

Way 4. Using Command Prompt

Command Prompt is a useful Windows 11 utility that does more than merely format disks, but you need to pay very attention in typing these command lines. Mistypes can cause severe consequences to your computer.

Step 1. Press "Windows" + "R" to open Run Dialogue.

Step 2. Type "diskpart”, and then hit "Enter".

Step 3. Input the following commands. Remember to hit "Enter" after each command.

• list disk
• select disk n, where "n" is the number of Seagate hard drive or flash drive
• list partition
• select partition m, where "m" is the number of partitions going to be formatted.
• format fs=exFAT (Replace exFAT with the exact file system you want)

Step 4. When your Seagate drive is formatted successfully, type "exit" to close this window.

Each method provides an effective way to reformat a used Seagate external hard drive on Windows.

Conclusion

This guide details six free and easy approaches on how to format Seagate external hard drive Windows 11, catering to both new and used drives with a free format tool, Disk Management, File Explorer, and Command Prompt.

For Windows beginners, we suggest you use a free format tool like AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard which applies to both situations without limitation.

If you are interested in formatting hard drives in Windows Server systems, try the Server Edition at ease.

FAQs on formatting Seagate external hard drive

Q1. Can I reformat a Seagate drive?

Yes, Seagate drives can indeed be reformatted, but it's crucial to understand that this process erases all data on the disk. For reformatting, ensure the Seagate hard drive is connected to the computer. Utilize the computer's built-in disk management tools to reformat the connected device. Alternatively, third-party software such as AOMEI Partition Assistant also allows for Seagate drive reformatting.

Q2. How do I reset my Seagate external hard drive Windows 11?

To reset a Seagate external hard drive on Windows 11, several methods can be employed:

1. Professional resetting tools

2. Disk Management utilities

3. Command Prompt (CMD)

4. Seagate DiscWizard

Here we suggest you use AOMEI Partition Assistant to reset Seagate external hard drive to its factory state.

Q3. How do I format hard drive when the disk management format option greyed out?

To solve the "Format volume greyed out" issue, consider these troubleshooting steps:

1. Restart your PC: A simple restart might resolve the issue.

2. Utilize Disk Management alternatives like AOMEI Partition Assistant.

3. Format the hard drive using CMD (Command Prompt).

For comprehensive insights and detailed steps, refer to Read Disk Management all options greyed out.