Formatting an external hard drive, SD card, or USB drive is quite simple on Windows computers. But sometimes, you cannot format the drive and may get errors due to corrupted files, malware threats, and bad sectors on the drive. If you are getting the error while formatting your device, keep reading the instructions given below to fix Windows was unable to complete the format.
Solution 1: Reformat The Drive Using Command Prompt
- On your Windows computer, click the Start menu at the bottom-left corner of the desktop and then type ‘cmd’ in the search field.
- From the search result, right-click the Command Prompt app and select the Run as administrator option.
- Wait for the Command Prompt app to be launched.
- Type ‘format C: /fs:ntfs’ in the Command Prompt window (replace the letter C with your drive letter) and hit the Enter key.
- You can also format the drive with the FAT32 format using the ‘format C: /fs: FAT32’ command.
- This should fix windows cannot complete the format issue.
- If the error reappears, try the next solution to fix windows was unable to complete the format.
Solution 2: Use Disk Management To Format The Drive
- Start by opening the Start menu.
- Type ‘compmgmt.msc’ in the search field and hit the Enter key.
- In the Computer Management window, click to open Disk Management.
- Alternatively, right-click the Start menu and select the Disk Management option from the pop-up menu to open Disk Management.
- Give a right-click on your external hard drive in the Disk Management window and select the Format option.
- Choose the required file system and select the Quick Format checkbox.
- Click the OK button to confirm the format.
Now, your drive should be formatted.
Now you have seen how to fix Windows was unable to complete the format error, To get more assistance on fixing windows error, contact us and get instant solution.