How to Fully Wipe USB Drive Windows 10/11?

Summary- This article will explore the ways to fully wipe USB drive in Windows 10/11, explaining the benefits of wiping a drive and providing step-by-step instructions for methods discussed below.

We use USB drives in our day-to-day lives as it is a convenient way of storing and transferring data. However, when it comes to discarding and reusing it for other purposes, simply deleting the files won’t do the job, as deleted data can often be recovered in many ways. Using advanced tools like recovery software and other utilities, one can easily restore your data. To prevent these unwanted recoveries and keep your sensitive data secure, you should wipe your USB drive on Windows.

For instance, imagine throwing away a USB drive containing your sensitive data like tax returns, medical records, or confidential work files. You may think you have fully deleted your data but those files can potentially be recovered by anonymous identities. This can lead to problems like identity theft or financial loss. However, you can counter these situations in the first place if you fully wipe your USB drive. It will ensure that your data is unrecoverable and your sensitive data is secure.

In the upcoming sections, we will discuss the various ways to wipe USB drives on Windows. But first, let’s take an in-depth look at its benefits.

Benefits of Wiping Data From a USB Drive

Wiping a USB drive offers more than simply deleting files. It offers you tons of advantages to enhance security and optimize your performance. Down below are some of the key benefits.

• Enhanced Data Security- When you wipe a USB drive, it ensures permanent removal of data, which is important for preventing any mishappenings. Moreover, wiping overwrites your data in meaningless patterns and renders it to make it unrecoverable.
• Improved Drive Performance- Drives become slow over time as they store unnecessary files which mostly contain fragmented data. Wiping a drive essentially cleans the digital clutter, resulting in performance.
• Reduced Risk of Malware Spread- In case the USB drive has been infected with malware, simply deleting the files may not be the perfect solution. You might have to wipe or format it to prevent further spread of malware.
• Increased Drive Lifespan- Frequent deletion and writing of data can fragment the drive and reduce its lifespan. Wiping USB drives regularly allows more efficient data writing and increases the lifespan.

Fully Wipe USB Drive Windows 10/11 – Methods

In this section, we will explore some methods for wiping your USB drive. We recommend that it is important to create a backup before proceeding, as formatting the drive will permanently erase all the content. Now, let’s get into the solution.

Method 1- Formatting With File Explorer

Step 1. Plug the USB drive into your computer and open File Explorer.

Step 2. Now, in the left pane, go to This PC and locate your USB drive under Devices and Drives.

Step 3. Right-click on the USB drive and select Format.

Step 4. Uncheck the Quick format option on the pop-up for a complete wipe and select the desired File System.

Step 5. Now, click Start to confirm the formatting process.

After the process is completed, all the data on the USB drive will be erased.

Method 2- Wiping with Disk Management

Step 1. Go to the Windows search bar and search Disk Management.

Step 2. Open it and a pop-up will appear listing your drives.

Step 3.   Right-click on your USB drive and select Format.

Step 4. In the new window, select the desired volume(name) for the drive and select the preferred file system.

Step 5. For a full wipe, deselect the Perform a Quick Format checkbox and click OK to start the process.

The process will begin and it will erase all the data on the USB drive.

Method 3- Using Diskpart to Fully Wipe USB Drive

You can use Window’s built-in tool to clean up your USB drive, follow the steps given below to proceed-

Step 1. Search Command Prompt in the Windows Search bar and Right-click on it.

Step 2. Select Run as Administrator and open it.

Step 3. Type ‘diskpart’ and press Enter.

Step 4. Then, type ‘list disk’ and hit Enter again. It will show you the list of connected drives.

Step 5. Look for the drive that matches the size and write it down in the following manner,

 ‘select disk X’ (Where X is the actual disk number of the USB drive)

Step 6. Now to erase all the data, type ‘clean’ and press Enter.

 

Now, the process will start and once it is completed, your data will be wiped from the USB Drive.

Limitations of the Above Methods

The methods mentioned above like formatting through File Explorer and Disk management can offer a way to wipe USB drive data, But they come with certain limitations. They are-

• Incomplete Erasure- Features like “Quick format” don’t overwrite data, which still makes it recoverable with data recovery software. You can uncheck the box for complete erasure.
• User Error Risk- Selecting the wrong drive unknowingly can lead to accidental data loss. So, double-check drive selection before wiping, especially with Diskpart’s commands.
• Limited Control- These methods typically offer a single overwrite pass. Some advanced wiping software may allow multiple passes for stronger security.
• No Verification- There is no such way to confirm successful wiping as the drive may appear empty, but there are chances that the data is still recoverable.

To tackle these drawbacks, you can use powerful software to fully wipe the USB Drive in Windows 10/11. We will talk about the software solution in the upcoming section.

How to Fully Wipe USB Drive? – Custom Guide

Using the above methods to wipe data from a USB drive can still leave some chances for recovery using an advanced forensic tool. To prevent this, we suggest you use SysTools Data Wipe Software as this powerful utility alters the algorithms with different passes and ensures that the data can no longer be recoverable.

The tool overwrites the 0’s and 1’s multiple times and each alteration makes it impossible to recover the original data. The tool has several advanced features that can be used to wipe any type of data completely from all devices, making it inevitable. Some of the key features of the software are mentioned below.

Features of The Smart Utility  

• The tool cleans up logs, temporary files, caches, recent file lists, and many other traces.
• The tool is compatible with more than 20+ global standards including NIST, ISO, and DoD.
• You can wipe all data from multiple storage devices or hard external drives using this tool such as SATA, PATA, NVMe, HDD, SSD, etc.
• One can overwrite complete data with different wipe methods like military grade standards British HMG IS5 (3 Passes), Peter Gutmann (35 Passes), Russian – GOST-R-50739-95 (2 Passes),  US DoD/US Air force/ (3 Passes).

Conclusion

In this write-up, we got to know the various reasons why users need to fully wipe USB drive on Windows 10/11. Also, we found that there are several methods one can use to clean their data. However, some methods do not wipe your entire data which leaves a scope to recover the deleted data. Therefore, we recommend you use our professional software as it alters and overwrites the algorithms, leaving no chances of data recovery.