Formats a disk for use with Windows.

FORMAT volume [/FS:file-system] [/V:label] [/Q] [/A:size] [/C] [/X] [/P:passes][/S:state]
FORMAT volume [/V:label] [/Q] [/F:size] [/P:passes]
FORMAT volume [/V:label] [/Q] [/T:tracks /N:sectors] [/P:passes]
FORMAT volume [/V:label] [/Q] [/P:passes]
FORMAT volume [/Q]

volume              Specifies the drive letter (followed by a colon), mount point, or volume name.
/FS:filesystem    Specifies the type of the file system (FAT, FAT32, exFAT, NTFS, or UDF).
/V:label             Specifies the volume label.
/Q                     Performs a quick format. Note that this switch overrides /P.
/C                     NTFS only: Files created on the new volume will be compressed by default.
/X                     Forces the volume to dismount first if necessary. All opened handles to the volume would no longer be valid.
/R:revision         UDF only: Forces the format to a specific UDF version (1.02, 1.50, 2.00, 2.01, 2.50). The default revision is 2.01.
/D                     UDF 2.50 only: Metadata will be duplicated.
/A:size               Overrides the default allocation unit size. Default settings are strongly recommended for general use.
                        NTFS supports 512, 1024, 2048, 4096, 8192, 16K, 32K, 64K.
                        FAT supports 512, 1024, 2048, 4096, 8192, 16K, 32K, 64K, (128K, 256K for sector size > 512 bytes).
                        FAT32 supports 512, 1024, 2048, 4096, 8192, 16K, 32K, 64K, (128K, 256K for sector size > 512 bytes).
                        exFAT supports 512, 1024, 2048, 4096, 8192, 16K, 32K, 64K, 128K, 256K, 512K, 1M, 2M, 4M, 8M, 16M, 32M.
                        Note that the FAT and FAT32 files systems impose the following restrictions on the number of clusters on a volume:

                        FAT: Number of clusters <= 65526
                        FAT32: 65526 < Number of clusters < 4177918

                        Format will immediately stop processing if it decides that the above requirements cannot be met using the specified cluster size.

                       NTFS compression is not supported for allocation unit sizes above 4096.

/F:size              Specifies the size of the floppy disk to format (1.44)
/T:tracks          Specifies the number of tracks per disk side.
/N:sectors        Specifies the number of sectors per track.
/P:passes          Zero every sector on the volume passes times. This switch is not valid with /Q
/S:state             Where "state" is either "enable" or "disable" Short names are enabled by default
 

Examples

format d: /fs:NTFS

Associated Commands

CONVERT

 

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Last Page Update: 08/03/2012

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