Windows: Format External Hard Drive - Clean Up

An external hard drive can help you back up your data while reducing the load on your system. However, it is important that you maintain your external hard drive regularly and also keep the file system up to date to preserve its functionality.

How to format your Windows external hard drive

Whether you use Windows 8, Windows 7 or Windows 10, you can easily format your hard drive with our guide.

1. In advance, it is important that you back up all data to another storage medium to avoid data loss. For this purpose, the cloud is very suitable. Because after formatting, all data is deleted. Use this process directly to sort your files.
2. Now connect your external hard drive with your Windows PC and open the Explorer.
3. You now see your hard drive and must select it with a right click. From the options that appear, select "Format" and confirm your selection.
4. You can now change the file system and the name of the hard drive. Choose between FAT32 and NTFS.
5. Once you are satisfied with these entries, click "Start". Ihnen wird nun eine Warnmeldung angezeigt, die Sie mit „OK“ bestätigen.

Wie oft sollten Sie formatieren?

Auch wenn Sie die externe Festplatte wenig verwenden, sollten Sie sie dennoch regelmäßig formatieren. Dadurch gehen Sie sicher, dass die Festplatte funktional ist und Ihre Daten jederzeit sicher sind.