How do I format a hard drive? A computer hard drive stores your files, allowing you to access them at any time. The majority of the time, you want these files to remain stored properly and safely.

Before we begin, it’s important to know that formatting a drive will erase everything on it, so you’ll want to make sure that you back up or save anything that you don’t want to lose. After you’ve ...

Emily Long is a freelance writer based in Salt Lake City. After graduating from Duke University, she spent several years reporting on the federal workforce for Government Executive, a publication of ...

If you’re installing a new hard drive, or need to wipe your drive clean for that “fresh” feeling, you’ll end up formatting your drive. Formatting will check the drive for errors, and prepare it for ...

There's more to it than you might think. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. Knowing how to format a hard drive seems like something ...

If you try to format a hard drive on your Windows 11/10 system and you receive an error that says Windows cannot format this drive, then this post will help you with ...