How to Erase and Format a Drive in Windows Most hard drives come "preformatted" and ready to use these days But you occasionally might need to format one yourself For example, formatting typically removes most of the data on a drive, making it a quicker way to erase a large drive than simply deleting everything on it
Format a Hard Drive in Windows: Step-by-Step Guide - Lifewire Open Disk Management, right-click your drive, and select Format to start erasing it Choose NTFS for the file system and uncheck quick format to ensure a complete format Formatting deletes data but doesn't fully erase it, so use additional methods for a complete data wipe
How to Erase and Format a Drive in Windows - Help Desk Geek When you buy an external hard drive, SSD (solid-state drive), or flash stick, chances are that you can connect it to your Windows PC and use it right away However, you may still want to erase and format the drive, so that you know you’re starting with a clean slate and an appropriate file system
5 Ways to Format a Computer: Windows, Mac, Chromebook - wikiHow Formatting your computer means erasing all the data on the hard drive (s) and then reinstalling Windows or macOS for a fresh start This can be useful if your computer isn't working right or you plan to sell it and don't want to risk someone recovering your data