How to Format Hard Drive from Bootable USB

Updated by

Roxanne 

Written by

Brithny 

Updated on Mar 21, 2025

Almost everyone knows that formatting hard drives is not a difficult job and can be easily done with the built-in Disk Management tool in Windows. However, formatting a hard disk could be complex when your operating system cannot boot properly or your disk fails to work normally. That's when you need to create a bootable USB to format your hard drive.

You can format the hard drive from USB by using a bootable USB drive created by a third-party HDD format tool or a Windows installation disk. Both are effective bootable USB hard drive format utilities. Read on and carry out the method best suited to your needs.

Method 1: Format the Hard Drive from Boota able USB

The simplest way to format your HDD from USB is to use the professional partition management software - EaseUS Partition Master Professional. With the assistance of this tool, you can create a bootable format tool that enables you to run the software on the problematic computer and then format the hard drive from USB without the operating system. To get things done, you need to create a bootable USB drive with a computer that is fully functional (Part 1), then apply it to format a hard drive on the computer without OS (Part 2).

Part 1: Create a Bootable USB Drive

Please refer to this page: create a bootable drive with EaseUS Partition Master.

After creating a bootable USB drive with the format tool, you can format your hard drive on the problematic computer from USB. Connect the USB to your computer and then open EaseUS Partition Master from the USB. Then follow the steps below.

Part 2: Format Hard Drive from USB

Step 1. Run EaseUS Partition Master, right-click the hard drive partition you intend to format and choose "Format".

Step 2. In the new window, set the Partition label, File system (NTFS/FAT32/EXT2/EXT3/EXT4/exFAT), and Cluster size for the partition to be formatted, then click "OK".

Step 3. Then you will see a warning window, click "Yes" in it to continue.

Step 4. Click the "Execute 1 Task(s)" button to review the changes, then click "Apply" to start formatting the partition on your hard drive.

If you follow the guide above, you will use the bootable USB to format your hard drive successfully. Don't miss this partition tool that can perfectly fulfill your needs.

How to Create Bootable USB to Wipe Hard Drive

In this post, you can learn how to create a bootable USB to wipe your hard drive from a dead computer.

Method 2: Format HDD from USB using Command Prompt

Other than using the third-party tool, you can also format your hard drive from USB with the help of Windows Installation disk, which, as you will know, is relatively more complicated than using a bootable format tool as shown in Method 1.

Step 1: Create a Windows installation disk and boot your PC from it.

Step 2: Navigate Repair Your Computer --> Command Prompt. 

Step 3: In the Command Prompt window,  type diskpart and press "enter".

Step 4: Type list disk and press "Enter" to list all the disk drives.

Step 5: Type select disk + disk number, here you can find the number of the target disk by referring to the listed disk information.

Step 6: Type clean to wipe all files and folders on the selected disk.

Step 7: Type create partition primary and press "Enter".

Step 8: After diskpart successfully created the specified partition, type format fs=ntfs (or format fs=exfat) and press Enter. You're telling diskpart to format the drive with a file system, let it be NTFS, exFAT, etc.

Step 9: At last, assign a drive letter to the newly created partition by typing assign.

The above guide shows you all the steps to partition and format a hard drive from USB using the diskpart command prompt. As you can see, It is a little bit tedious and time-consuming. If you want an easier way, a third-party bootable USB format tool will help.

Here is a tutorial video that may be more intuitive for beginners:

Bonus Tip: Format Hard Drive from BIOS with USB

Other than following the bootable USB methods to format a hard drive, you can also try to format a hard drive from BIOS. It works in the same scenarios when something goes wrong with the bootable partition or when you want to format C drive in Windows.

To format the hard drive from BIOS settings, you have two options.

Option 1. Boot into BIOS and Format in Windows

Step 1: While booting up your computer, consecutively press F1, F2, F8 or Del key to enter BIOS settings.

Step 2: Select the "Advanced BIOS Features" by pressing the arrow keys on the keyboard of your computer and then set the first boot device as the USB drive or CD, or DVD.

Step 3: After changing the BIOS settings, you can exit the screen and reboot your computer. Insert the bootable USB or CD/DVD, and your computer will boot from USB or CD, DVD.

Step 4: After booting the computer, you can go ahead to format the hard drive in Windows Explorer or Windows Disk Management.

Option 2. Boot into BIOS and Format Using CMD

Step 1: While booting up your computer, consecutively press F1, F2, F8, or Del key to enter BIOS settings.

Step 2: Change the boot order to boot from USB/CD/DVD.

Step 3: Reboot your computer from the bootable disk. When your disk is loaded, click "Use this recovery tools that can help fix problems starting Windows" and navigate to Windows installation > Command Prompt.

Step 4: In the Command Prompt window, type format c: /fs: ntfs and hit Enter.

If you want to know the complete guide to formatting the hard drive from BIOS, click the link below:

How to Format Hard Drive from BIOS Windows 10

This guide will provide three complete guides to formatting the hard drives from BIOS Windows 10, including format via EaseUS Partition Master, Command Prompt, and formatting the drive during Windows installation.

Final Verdict

Based on situations when you cannot normally start a computer, the boot partition fails to boot, or try to reinstall an operating system, it's necessary to format a hard drive in a bootable environment. In conclusion, from what we presented in the article, you can start to format HDD freely from USB and format HDD from BIOS settings.

No matter whether you choose to format the hard drive from USB or BIOS settings, you must create a bootable USB or disc to boot into Windows. In comparison, EaseUS USB bootable format software is the easiest to create, and disk formatting is usually done in a few simple clicks. Whereas the Windows recovery disk is rather difficult to get, and the format hard drive using CMD is higher-leveled. We don't recommend average computer users to attempt for the first time.

Create Bootable USB to Format HDD FAQs

1. Can I Wipe My Hard Drive from a Bootable USB?

Yes, you can wipe your hard drive using a bootable USB. Tools like EaseUS Partition Master and DBAN (Darik's Boot and Nuke) allow you to create a bootable USB drive to securely erase data from hard drives. The first option provides a user-friendly interface for creating a bootable USB to wipe hard drives.

2. How Do I Format A Hard Drive with A Flash Drive?

Refer to method one in this post to create a bootable USB flash drive and follow the tutorial:

Step 1. Insert a USB into the computer.

Step 2. Open File Explorer, and click This PC from the left panel.

Step 3. Under the "Device and drives" section, right-click the USB and choose the "Format" option.

3. Can You Format the Hard Drive from BIOS?

You cannot directly format a hard drive from the BIOS settings. However, you can boot from a bootable USB drive, such as Windows installation media or a tool like MiniTool Partition Wizard, to format the hard drive.