How to format a USB drive to an NTFS File System in Windows 11/10

The chances are that at one point or the other everyone has tried to format their USB drive in NTFS. Although by default, Windows doesn’t allow the USB stick in the NTFS file system, it’s always better to use NTFS (New Technology File System) file system against the old FAT (File Allocation System).

The NTFS file system has a few advantages over the old FAT file systems like larger storage support, data encryption, compression option, faster and safer drive, etc. This guide will show you a smart and quick way to format your USB stick in NTFS.

How to format USB to NTFS in Windows 11/10

There are two ways of doing this. The first is using the Command Prompt and the second is with File Explorer. While the command prompt method is quicker, you have to very careful and should accurately put the drive you want to format else you will end up losing data.

Read: How to Format a Hard Drive or Disk?

1] Format USB drive to NTFS File System using Command Prompt

Type cmd in the  Start Menu and choose to start with admin privileges or in the Run (Win + R) dialog box type CMD and press SHIFT+Enter to open to the command prompt with admin privileges.

Type the following command in the command prompt format J: /fs:ntfs (where J is your USB drive letter).

Here is the complete syntax for the format command

format <volume> [/fs:{FAT|FAT32|NTFS}] [/v:<label>] [/q] [/a:<unitsize>] [/c] [/x] [/p:<passes>]

Wait for a couple of minutes to finish the process. Once Windows finishes the format process, close the command prompt.

Read: How to format USB Pen Drive using Command Prompt.

2] Format USB to NTFS using File Explorer

To format a USB drive to an NTFS File System in Windows 10:

1. Open File Explorer ( Win + E)
2. Right-click on the USB drive you want to format
3. From the context menu, choose Format.
4. In the format configuration, choose NTFS in the file system.
5. Click on the Start button.

This will format the USB drive, and make it ready to be used in Windows 10.

I hope the post is easy to follow, and you were able to format the USB drive using the Command Prompt and the File Explorer. You can use any of the methods, but make sure to be very careful as it will remove everything from the drive.