How to Format a USB Flash Drive to get fast read/write speed in Windows 10

Tutorial on how to format USB Flash Drive in Microsoft Windows 10 OS to get better read/write speed .

Note : Formatting the USB flash drive will erase all the data in it. So backup the content of USB flash drive before formatting it.

 

The performance of USB Flash Drive mainly depends on the quality of the controller and the flash memory in it. If you want better performance then buy a USB Flash drive which has better specification. 

Generally USB flash drive of small size has show read/write speed. So you should avoid buying it if want better Read/Write performance from USB Flash Drive.

Requirements:

• USB Flash drive of capacity 4GB or more.
• Window 10 PC

File System

In Windows 10 formatting of the USB Flash drive partition supports three types of File system.

 

1. FAT32
 

FAT32 is most widely supported file system. A USB Flash drive with FAT32 file system is supported by many operating system like Microsoft Windows OS, Linux , Mac OS. 

 

FAT32 file system is  supported by hardware media players like music system , digital TV, etc.

FAT32 File system has read/write speed is better than NTFS file system.

A single File in FAT32 partition can have maximum size of 4GB.

The maximum capacity of a partition (volume) supported in Windows OS is 32 GB. A partition of size greater than 32 GB cannot be formatted to FAT32 file system.

The maximum number of files which can be stored in a partition wilt FAT32 file system is 65534.

 

 

 
2. NTFS

 

 

A USB Flash drive with NTFS file system is supported Microsoft Windows OS. It is also widely supported in Linux . Files stored in  NTFS partition .

 

NTFS File system has lower read/write speed compared to FAT32 and exFAT.

 

NTFS file system provides high reliability . Files stored in NTFS file system has less chance of getting corrupted.

NTFS file system is generally not supported by hardware media players like music system , digital TV, etc.

 
3. eXFAT  

exFAT file system has been built specifically for Flash drives.

A USB Flash drive with eXFAT file system is supported Microsoft Windows 7 OS or later. It is also supported in latest Linux and Mac OS.

exFAT File system has higher read/write speed compared to FAT32 and NTFS.

Allocation Unit Size ( Cluster size )

Allocation unit size (cluster size) represents the smallest unit of disk storage space will be used to hold the file data.

Allocation unit size has does impact the read and write speed of the disk.

Allocation unit size of 64 KB gives fast read and write performance in the USB Flash Drive. The USB Flash Drive formatted with Allocation unit size of 64 KB can be used on computer with Windows OS without any issue. Other modern operating system like Linux and Mac should not face any issue in detecting this USB Flash drive.

This has been done to increase the read and write speed of files in the USB Flash Drive. At the same time compatibility of the USB flash drive will decrease. Some systems which are less sophisticated ( example : car audio system, audio players) may not be able to detect the files in the Flash drive.

 

 

1. Format USB Flash Drive partition using Windows File Explorer

• Plug in the USB Flash Drive which will be formatted.
  
• Open File Explorer.
• Right click the USB Flash Drive and select Format.
  

Format to exFAT File system

To format the USB Flash drive to exFAT file system, do the following:

• Select exFAT from the drop down list labeled File System.
• Select 64 kilobytes from the drop down list labelled Allocation unit size.
• Select Start Button.
  

Format to FAT32 File system

To format the USB Flash drive to FAT32 file system, do the following:

• Select FAT32 from the drop down list labeled File System.
• Select 64 kilobytes from the drop down list labelled Allocation unit size.
• Select Start Button.

Format to NTFS File system

 

 

To format the USB Flash drive to NTFS file system, do the following:

• Select NTFS from the drop down list labeled File System.
• Select 64 kilobytes from the drop down list labelled Allocation unit size.
• Select Start Button.

• A warning message will be shown as shown in the the image below.
• Select OK to start the formatting process.
  

• If the formatting process completes successfully then Format Complete message will be shown.
  

 

 

2. Format USB Flash Drive partition using Windows Disk Management

 

 

 To Open Disk management do the followings:

• Plug in the USB Flash Drive in the computer USB port.
  
• Open Windows Start Menu.
• Select Windows Administrative tools > Computer Management.
  

 

 

 

 

 To Format the USB Flash Drive do the followings:

• In the Computer Management window, select Storage > Disk Management.
• Right click the USB Flash drive and select Format.
  

 

 

 

 

1. Format to exFAT File system

To format the USB Flash drive to exFAT file system, do the following:

• Select exFAT from the drop down list labeled File System.
• Select 64 kilobytes from the drop down list labelled Allocation unit size.
• Select OK Button.

 

 

 

 

 

2. Format to FAT32 File system

To format the USB Flash drive to FAT32 file system, do the following:

• Select FAT32 from the drop down list labeled File System.
• Select 64 kilobytes from the drop down list labelled Allocation unit size.
• Select OK Button.
  

 

 

 

 

 

3. Format to NTFS File system

To format the USB Flash drive to NTFS file system, do the following:

• Select NTFS from the drop down list labeled File System.
• Select 64 kilobytes from the drop down list labelled Allocation unit size.
• Select OK Button.

 

 

 

 

 

• A warning message will be shown as shown in the the image below.
• Select OK to start the formatting process.

 

 

 

 

 

2. Format the USB Flash Drive using Rufus app

Rufus app is an open source application which can be used to Format the USB Flash Drive.

 

 

1. Insert USB Flash drive

• Plug in the USB Flash Drive in the computer USB port.
• Open Windows File Explorer. 
• Note the Drive letter assigned to the USB Flash Drive which will be formatted. ( In this case the drive letter assigned to USB flash drive is H: )
  

 

 

 

2. Select USB flash device in Rufus app

 

• Run Rufus app.
• Select the USB Flash drive which will be formatted in the drop down labelled Device. Make sure it has same drive letter as of USB flash drive.
• Select Non bootable from the drop down list labelled Boot selection.
  

 

 

3. Select the Partition scheme

 Two types of partition scheme ( partition style) is supported :

1. Master boot Record (MBR) : MBR partitioning scheme will be used for USB Flash drive.
   
2. GUID Partition Table (GPT) : GPT partitioning scheme will be used for USB Flash drive.

 

User need to select a Partition style  from the two available choice.

 

1. MBR

To select MBR partition scheme, select MBR from the drop down list labelled Partition scheme.

 

 

 

2. GPT

To select GPT partition scheme, select GPT from the drop down list labelled Partition scheme.

 

 

 

4. Set the File System and Cluster size

User need to select a file system for the partition in the USB flash drive from the three available choice.

 

exFAT file system

To format the partition to exFAT file system do the following:

• Select exFAT from the drop down list labelled File system.
• Select 64 kilobytes from the drop down list labelled Cluster size.
• Uncheck Create extended label and icon files.
• Select START button.
  

 

NTFS File system

To format the partition to NTFS file system do the following:

• Select NTFS from the drop down list labelled File system.
• Select 64 kilobytes from the drop down list labelled Cluster size.
• Uncheck Create extended label and icon files.
• Select START button.

 

 

 

FAT32 file system

To format the partition to FAT32 file system do the following:

• Select FAT32 from the drop down list labelled File system.
• Select 64 kilobytes from the drop down list labelled Cluster size.
• Uncheck Create extended label and icon files.
• Select START button.

 

 

 

 

A warning message will be shown by Rufus app as shown in the image below.

• Select OK button to start the Format process.