Even with computers getting smaller and more and more digital devices available that can store your files there are still a number of reasons why you may want to have a USB Flash Drive. Whatever you call them, these USB drives are tiny devices that can store a huge amount of data and allow you to take it with you were ever you go and access it from other computers and digital devices.

While most USB devices automatically format to your PC by downloading appropriate drivers, knowing how to format it manually will always come in handy. This is especially true if you ever need to use your USB as an installer or if you need to reformat it due to a virus or error. Here is a simple how-to for formatting (or re-formatting) your USB Flash Drive.

Formatting a USB Drive in Windows

Formatting or reformatting your USB drive required the same steps.

1. With your computer on, plug the flash drive in an available USB port.
2. Click Start > Computer
3. Right Click the icon for the USB drive and select Format.

4. Choose "NTFS" or "FAT32" from the dropdown menu box.
5. You can also return the USB drive to default settings by selecting this option.
6. Click Start to complete the format.

The process to format or reformat your USB drive may take a few minutes. A window that displays the progress will appear.  The formatting process re-acquaints the drive with the computer type at hand (be it Windows or what have you) so the process is essentially designed to make a clean slate.  The down side to this is that any and all data on the flash / thumb drive will be permanently erased.  Be sure to back up all of this data before formatting, either on another removable drive or on a PC.  Of course, if the USB drive is brand new, this shouldn't be an issue.

Considerations for Larger Drives

If your USB drive is larger than 256MB, which most are today, then selecting FAT32 will allow you to use your USB drive on Mac computers as well as on Windows. Make sure that you always safely eject your USB drive before removing it from the USB port.