- How to Format a Partition On Windows (Windows 10)
- How to Format a Partition On Mac (Mac OS X)
- How to Get Back Lost Files from Formatted Partition
Before using a new hard disk drive, it is advisable that you perform disk partitioning i.e. the act of separating a physical hard disk drive into various sections or partitions. Once you have it partitioned, you will need to format it so that you will be able to store your files in it. These formatted partitions will be able to manage your files and data efficiently.
To format partitions, Windows and Mac have built-in utility tools to help users manage and format these partitions. Using these inherent software is easy, but if you need something that is easier, there are plenty of third party software available to help you.
Part I The Reasons to Format a Partition
Since partition formatting will cause permanent erasure of data stored in the specific partition, it is great when you to mass delete current data to make way for new ones. You can perform this operation on any disk be it internal disk partition or external devices such as flash drives and external hard disk drives.
There are several scenarios that will require you to necessarily perform partition formatting:
- To wipe out private and confidential data off the partition, the format partition operation is necessary to conduct;
- It is essential to perform partition formatting when the specified partition has become corrupted or damaged;
- Formatting a deleted partition is mandatory so that it will not be a useless space of unallocated memory; and
- An easy remedy to counter a virus attack on a specific partition.
Part II How to Format a Partition On Windows (Windows 10)
To make sure that you will be able to store the necessary data in a partition of your hard disk drive, you will need to format the partition. On Windows 10, your will be able to use the built-in "Disk Management" function to help you create, delete and format a specific partition. Follow these steps to ensure a successful partition formatting operation on Windows 10:
Step 1. Initiate the "Disk Management" Utility
On the "Start" menu interface, type "Computer Management" and double click on "Disk Management" in the window. Alternatively, you can open the function via the command prompt by typing "compmgmt.msc" in the search bar and press the "Enter" key.
Step 2. Select the "Format" option
You should be able to see all the disks and partitions on the computer in the "Disk Management" window. Highlight the partition that you want to format. Right-click on the highlighted partition to open the "Context" menu and choose the "Format"¦" option.
Step 3. Select the cluster type and file system type
A pop-up window will appear and ask you to set the file system, the name of the volume and its cluster size. Fill them in and click on the "OK" button. This should launch the formatting process.
Part III How to Format a Partition On Mac (Mac OS X)
The Mac OS X equivalent of the "Disk Management" tool is "Disk Utility" that will help Mac users to perform partition formatting easily. These are the steps that you will need to do to format partitions on your Mac computer:
Step 1. Launch "Disk Utility"
To launch the "Disk Utility" tool, click on the "Utilities" menu and click on "Disk Utility".
Step 2. Select the partition to be formatted
On the next window, choose the partition that you want from the left pane to format by highlighting it. This will open the "Partition" tab on the right pane.
Step 3. Select the "Erase" tab to start format partition
From the right pane, click on the "Erase" tab and verify the data format and name of the partition you want to format by clicking on the "Security Options"¦". Click the "Erase"¦" button to initiate the formatting process once you are sure that it is the partition that you want.
Part IV How to Get Back Lost Files from Formatted Partition
Should you mistakenly formatted the wrong partition, you will still be able to recover some of the lost file by using a third party data recovery software like Wondershare Data Recovery. It is one of the many partition data recovery software that has grown in popularity in the past couple of years.
To recover lost files, follow these steps to format partitions:
Step 1. Launch the software
Once you have launched the program, you will need to choose the "Recovery Mode" it is best to use the "Wizard Mode" especially if you are a beginner or technologically challenged. Click on the "Next" button to move to the next step.
Step 2. Pick the file type you want to retrieve
The Wizard will prompt you to pick the type of files you want to recover from the depth of the partition. To be safe, pick the option that allows the software to retrieve everything from the partition. Click "Next".
Step 3. Let the software know the specific partition
Next, you will need to tell the software where you have lost the files that you are trying to recover. You can either let the Wizard search the whole computer or direct it straight to where the partition is. Click "Next".
Step 4. Start the search
Proceed by ticking the "Enable Deep Scan" checkbox. Click on "Start" to start recovering files from the formatted partition.
Step 5. Preview, select and recover wanted files
It will take some time for the software to put the deleted files together. You will then be able to see the files that can be retrieved. You will be able to preview them first before recovering them. Select or deselect the files that you want. Click "Recover" to start the process the time needed to complete the process will vary according to the number of files you are trying to recover.
