The USB flash drive is not formatted writes write protected. Format the flash drive if it is write-protected - remove protection

Read what to do if when you try to format a flash drive, memory card or hard drive you get the message: “The disk is write-protected” . And also, how to properly remove protection and unlock any device if you cannot create or copy files to a USB flash drive or memory card, because the device is write-protected.

If you see a message while copying or creating files on your device: You need permission to perform this operation.

Or, when you try to format, you receive a message: You do not have sufficient permissions to perform this operation.

So you need to remove the write protection of the device in the editor of the local group policy Windows:

Run the execute command, type gpedit.msc and press Enter.
Go to section "Computer Configuration" - "Administrative Templates" - "System" - .
Disable property "Removable drives: disable writing". To do this, double click on it, set the value Disabled and press OK.
Repeat these steps for the section "User Configuration" - "Administrative Templates" - "System" - "Access to Removable Storage Devices".

After the above steps, try to create a file or folder on the USB flash drive. If this manual did not help you, watch our previous videos about fixing errors on a flash drive.

Although optical discs are still in demand, there is no need to talk about any popularity of this type of media. Today they have almost been replaced by portable flash drives or simply flash drives. These small devices are distinguished by versatility, reliability and the ability to store large amounts of information for a long time. And yet, despite their reliability and resistance to physical damage, flash drives, like all devices, can start to work with errors over time.

One of these errors, and, by the way, very common, is the spontaneous activation of write protection. It manifests itself in the fact that when you try to write or delete a file from the media, the system displays the message "The disk is write-protected." It also happens that the flash drive is not formatted Windows tools, but it usually happens in more complex situations. However, the problem is not so unsolvable, and today we will just look at the main ways to fix it.

Why does the "Disk is write-protected" error appear?

The causes of the malfunction described above may be different, but, as a rule, they are all associated with either a configuration failure Windows settings, or with the failure of the flash-memory of the device, or with damage to the file system. Hardware failures and failures in the microcontroller cannot be ruled out. It often happens that the user himself blocks the device by switching a special hardware toggle switch, but this only applies to those flash drives that are equipped with a similar mechanism.

Blocking the drive can also be caused by lack of free disk space, viruses, natural wear and tear of flash memory (the device is switched to read-only mode), incorrect formatting, removal from the USB connector during data recording, thermal and electrical effects, ingestion moisture, removing or damaging the corresponding driver, the appearance of a large number of bad sectors, less often changing the file system after using a flash drive on devices with a different operating system. So, how to remove protection from a flash drive that cannot be written to?

Removing protection from a flash drive by hardware

Some manufacturers of flash drives equip drives with a small mechanical switch that allows you to turn write protection on and off. If your device has a similar toggle switch, make sure it is set to the UnLock position (toward the open padlock icon).

Insert a flash drive into a USB port and try to write something to it. If you suspect that the switch is broken, do not disassemble the device, but rather take it to service center.

How to remove protection using the registry editor

If write protection is not related to hardware problems, you can try to remove it through the registry. The fact is that a parameter can be set in the registry that prohibits making changes to file system drive. Click on the keyboard Win+R, enter the command regedit and press enter.

Expand the following branch in the left column of the opened editor:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SYSTEM/CurrentControlSet/Control/StorageDevicePolicies

Now see if there is an option in the right column of the editor WriteProtect. If it is present and its value is 1, then you have found the reason why the flash drive is write-protected. Double-click on the parameter line with the mouse and change the current value from 1 to 0. Save the settings, restart the computer and check the result.

Attention, it is likely that you will not have some element of the above path. In this case, it must be created manually. Let's say there is no StorageDevicePolicies directory. Click right click click on the previous subsection and select "Create" → "Section" from the menu.

Naturally, you also need to create a WriteProtect parameter. It must be of type DWORD, but can also be QWORD on 64-bit systems.

Using the command line

We figured out how to remove write protection from a flash drive through the registry, let's look at another way - using the built-in console utility diskpart. After connecting the USB flash drive to the computer, open as administrator command line and run the following commands in sequence:

diskpart
list disk
select disk N(where N is the serial number of the flash drive)
attributes disk clear readonly
exit

The first command launches the Diskpart utility, the second displays a list of all disks connected to the computer.

With the third command, we select the serial number of the removable media, the fourth - remove the write protection from it. The fifth command terminates the Diskpart utility.

This tool can also be used to format a write-protected flash drive, but this is when the files on it are of no value. In this case, after the fourth step, you should run the following commands:

clean
create partition primary
format fs=ntfs

Unlock flash drive through local group policy

Another way to remove write protection involves using the Local Group Policy Editor. By pressing Win+R call the "Run" window, enter in it gpedit.msc and press enter.

In the left column of the editor, follow the path Computer Configuration → Administrative Templates → System → Removable Storage Access.

Now in the right column, find the option "Removable drives: Deny reading", double-click on it and make sure that the radio button in the settings window that opens is set to "Disabled" (the default should be "Not set").

Utilities of popular manufacturers to remove protection

In some cases, it is not possible to remove protection from a USB flash drive using the system alone. At the same time, it is often not only impossible to write anything to the media, but also when formatting Windows flash drives It says the disk is write protected. In such situations, they can help out a lot. special utilities. It is important, however, to understand that most of these programs perform a complete formatting of the drive during the unlocking process, so you should take care of creating a backup copy of all the files on it in advance.

JetFlash Recovery Tool is one of the most popular flash drive recovery utilities. It is intended mainly for repairing Transcend and A-Data flash drives, but it can also work with other types of media. The utility supports removing write protection, restoring from the RAW file system, formatting with preliminary data saving, and fixing file system corruption. The program can be used even in cases where the flash drive is not recognized by the system at all.

A utility for recovering flash drives based on Alcor microcontrollers. Like the previous tool, it allows you to remove write protection, as well as restore the normal operation of the device. The utility supports creating protected partitions on a disk, flashing the controller and analyzing flash memory. Unfortunately, the utility has been discontinued by the developer, however, it continues to be successfully used to “treat” Alcor drives.

And at the end of the review, we suggest getting acquainted with another utility for unlocking flash drives. This HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool is a universal free program, used primarily for formatting different models flash drives. The utility supports unlocking USB devices, selecting a file system when formatting, assigning labels, applying data compression for NTFS. You can also use it to create bootable MS-DOS flash media.

The situation is familiar since the days of floppy disks. Write protection can be set both on SD or microSD memory cards, and on a USB drive. Sometimes this indicates a malfunction of the device. In most cases, the problem is solvable. How to quickly and easily remove protection from a flash drive, read our article.

Why does a flash drive need write protection?

Sometimes this is a necessary measure. Users put protection on their flash drives to protect them from malware that spontaneously copies to disks.

In other cases, it is a hardware or software error.

The disk is write protected

Causes of the "Disk is write-protected" error and solutions

Mechanical write protection enabled

Some USB flash drives have built-in mechanical security. It is a switch on the body. If there is one, and it is in the “Lock” position, then it needs to be moved.

If the switch is in the “Lock” position, then data cannot be written to the USB flash drive.

It is also possible that the mechanism is broken and the switch cannot be moved.

The carrier is infected with a virus

Malicious software not only blocks the recording of data, but generally any other operations related to the movement of information. In this case, there are two solutions:

Check the drive with an antivirus (antivirus databases must be up to date).
Format the flash drive with system tools or using third party programs. Perhaps a virus will block formatting. In this case, you need to check the entire computer.

Blocking by system processes

Go to the tray, right-click on the "Safely Remove Devices and Disks" icon and select your flash drive.

In the tray, find the "Safely remove devices and drives" icon, right-click on it and select the desired device

2. Restart your computer. Perhaps the intervention of some system processes into the operation of the drive and interfere with its operation. And the above actions can turn them off.

USB drive file system errors

Memory chip wear, viruses, power surges, and unsafe removal of the flash drive can lead to logical damage to the USB drive.

If the data on the flash drive is needed, then you first need to extract it. If you can’t just copy it, you will have to use a data recovery program.
Format the drive to restore the file system.

However, it is unlikely that it will be possible to format in the usual way. Therefore, you need to use the "Run" tool.

It can also be done using the utility. For example, HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool. It's free and needs to be run as administrator.

Free HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool

USB Drive Controller Firmware Failure

The reasons described in the previous paragraph may cause the controller to fail. To protect information on the flash drive, it goes into blocking mode and stops responding to system requests. To fix this, the controller needs to be reflashed. To do this, you need to know the controller model in order to select the appropriate program. good tool is the Flash Drive Information Extractor utility. It is free and gives out all available information about the flash drive, including the controller model.

The free utility provides all information about the USB drive, including the controller model

Windows Registry

It is possible that a parameter is set in the registry that prohibits changes.

Using the Win + R buttons, launch the Run tool and enter the regedit command.

Enter the regedit command

Navigate to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\StorageDevicePolicies key.
If the section does not exist, it must be created. To do this, right-click on the right-click on the "Control" section, select "Create" and click on "Section". Name it "StorageDevicePolicies" (without quotes).
If there is no StorageDevicePolicies section in the editor, then you need to create it: to do this, right-click on the "Control" section, select "Create" and click on "Section"
In the right part of the window, right-click, create "DWORD (32-bit) Value". Name it "WriteProtect" (without quotes).
Right-click on the right half of the window, select "New" and click on "DWORD (32-bit) Value"
Check parameter value. Right-click on it and select "Edit...". The value must be "0".
The new parameter called "WriteProtect" should be set to "0"
Close the Registry Editor, remove the USB drive and restart your computer.

Read-only attribute

It has nothing to do with the file system of the flash drive, but simply informs the system that changing disk data is prohibited.

Press Win + R to open the Run tool and type cmd.

Enter command cmd

In the window that opens, first enter the command "diskpart", then - "list disk". The last command lists the available drives. Find Removable Disk (in this example this is Disk 1).
After entering the list disk command, a list of available disks appears, among them you need to find a removable disk

Enter the command "select disk 1". A confirmation will appear that the drive has been selected. Then enter the second command "attributes disk clear readonly".

After entering the select disk 1 command, confirmation comes out that the disk is selected: it remains to enter the attributes disk clear readonly command

Local Group Policy Editor

There may be a setting in the editor that is causing the write protection error.

Using the key combination "Win" + R, launch the "Run" tool and enter gpedit.msc into the line.
To enable writing data to disk, select "Disable" and click "OK"

USB ports malfunction

To rule out or confirm this possibility, you need to connect another USB device to the port. If it works fine, then the problem is with the media.

Physical damage to the media

Shock, improper storage or deterioration of the flash drive can cause a write protection error to appear. In this case, you need to contact the service center. If the memory chip is intact, then the information can be recovered.

Transcend USB Flash Drive

A special feature is that there is a JetFlash Recovery utility for servicing flash drives of this company. It eliminates errors, including the one due to which information cannot be written to the disk.

Video instruction: how to remove protection from a flash drive

Using this manual, the user will be able to determine the cause of the error when trying to write data to it and remove protection from the device.

Using the drive to edit information on it is not always successful, sometimes flash drive not formatted write protected. Formatting and any other manipulations related to changing information on the media will be blocked, and the flash drive turns into a regular CD / DVD disc. The problem has been known for a long time, so the solutions have already been worked out and are reliable.

Note that the only worthy use of flash drive write protection is its protection against viruses that, without the knowledge of the user, migrate through the system and infect more and more new areas.

The flash drive is not formatted: what to do?

The very first step in solving a situation where a flash drive is not formatted by Windows is to check the physical condition of the drive. Some flash drives have a lock with a sliding latch, the same applies to microSD cards. The toggle switch may be located on one of the edges of the media. To eliminate the prohibition for writing, it is necessary to move the lock to the Open or Lock position, this is done with something hard or with a fingernail, since the toggle switch is quite small.

Most likely, the lock was turned on by accident, so before further connecting the drive, it is worth checking the correctness of its installation.

Another common problem there is a software write lock, which is set at the level of the microcontroller of the drive. For normal operation, you need to unlock the USB flash drive, which can be done using the built-in Windows tools.

The flash drive is not formatted - the disk is write-protected. Unlock via registry

A more common reason why a flash drive is not formatted is the software area. To remove the ban, you need to perform some manipulations with the registry.

Press Win + R and enter regedit in the window that opens, the editor will be called with administrator rights;

Then you need to go to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE branch and select the SYSTEM folder;
The CurrentControlSet - Control section contains the required StorageDevicePolicies folder. In some systems, the item may be missing, in which case you just have to create it by clicking on "Edit", activate "Create" and select the "Section" item. It's important to name the folder exactly StorageDevicePolicies;
Next, in the selected section (in the window on the right), you need to right-click and "Create", then select "DWORD Value (32 bits)" and name WriteProtect;
Next, double-click to open the created parameter and check the value, it should be 0, if a unit is set, you need to replace it and save the changes;

At the end, you need to close the registry, remove the drive and restart the PC. After reconnect everything will work correctly.

Removing protection with Diskpart

The next way to format a flash drive if it is not formatted is to use the Diskpart command function. This interpreter is used to configure and obtain information about partitions.

In our case, it should be used like this:

Click on "Start";
In the search bar, enter the combination cmd;
RMB on the result and run with higher rights;
Then in the console you should enter diskpart and press enter;
Next, type list disk and press Enter. Here you need to determine the number of the drive with which we will interact, that is, flash drives. The easiest way to determine desired section- is to look at the size, which is slightly smaller than the volume indicated on the flash drive;

Now you need to select a disk using the select disk 2 command, where the number is indicated by an individual, just identified;
To clear the attribute that blocks the write, you need to enter the command "attributes disk clear readonly";
Then the flash drive must be formatted using the standard "clean" command;
You need to create a partition using the "create partition primary" command;
At the end, you should install the standard NTFS / FAT file system, which is done by the “format fs = ntfs” command, to edit in FAT, you need to replace ntfs with fat in the command.

Removing Protection Using the Group Policy Editor

An alternative method for solving the problem with unavailable formatting is as follows:

You must press the combination Win + R and enter the name of the service gpedit.msc, then Enter;
Next, you need to open a branch called "Computer Configuration";
Then select "Administrative Templates";
Next, open the "System" category;
The ultimate goal is "Access to removable devices";
It is necessary to deactivate the "Removable drives: Deny writing" option, to do this, double-click on the option and set the Disable position in the new window on the left.

Additional options

If the problem has not been fixed by one of the listed methods, it is worth trying to find the software of the official manufacturer, it is likely that it has some specific function. This is easy to do by simply going to the manufacturer's website.

Some users confuse the situation of a protected drive and a separate file. Probably, the problem is not in the flash drive itself, but some separate file blocks formatting. It is worth taking a closer look at the error window, if a specific file is indicated there, you need to remove protection from it. Performing the action is quite simple - right-click on it and select "Properties", then click on the "Security" tab and deselect the "Read Only" item.

Important! Before formatting, you need to correctly set the file system into which the flash drive will be transferred. The most common types are FAT and NTFS, in the first case, the volume of the drive will not exceed 4 GB, regardless of its actual size, and in the second case, the installed volume will be supported.

After all, you need to choose a quick or full formatting, the first option is faster and shows errors less often, and the second one is of better quality.

Sometimes it is not possible to fix the problem at all, since the flash drive simply cannot be used anymore due to the fact that the resource has been exhausted. Each device has a limited number of write cycles, when this resource is exhausted, the flash drive automatically becomes read-only.

If you still have questions on the topic “How to format a flash drive if it is write-protected?”, You can ask them in the comment

SD cards can be found in cameras and old phones. These memory cards can be write-protected - that is, they cannot be formatted just like that, only after installing certain utilities.

SD cards are connected to the computer through an adapter. As a rule, it may have a switch marked as Lock - in the picture below it is circled in red.

Make sure the lock is in the open position and the card is not mechanically blocked. It's possible that simply toggling this slider can release the lock without you having to programmatically do it. If the card is still write-protected, contact Windows utilities.

Removing a lock from a flash drive using diskpart

One of the most simple ways- use the diskpart console utility, which is used to manage connected disks. It can be called through the command line.

Open the Start menu (for Windows 7) or go to the search bar from the taskbar (Windows 10). Enter the query "cmd" and open the command line.
Enter the "diskpart" command. A new utility window will open.
To display a list of disks (and flash drives), set "list disk". The screen will list all available storage media.
Find your SD card among the indicated disks and enter the command "select disk n", where n is the number of the desired flash drive.
To format the data, enter the "clean" command. If it doesn't work the first time, try again.
We recommend using the "active" command - it activates the flash drive.
Also use NTFS formatting with the "format fs=ntfs" command. A countdown will appear on the screen, how many percent of the memory is formatted.

Removing protection from a memory card using diskmgmt.msc

Another program built into Windows is diskmgmt.msc. It is suitable for formatting flash drives, memory cards and hard drives.

To open the utility, go to the "Run" menu - the easiest way to do this is with the keyboard shortcut + [R]. You can also enter the query "execute" in the search bar and select the first result.

Enter the name of the diskmgmt.msc utility in the input field and click or OK. Wait until the configuration information for the available disks is loaded.
Find your memory card in the list, right-click on its name and select "Format".
If the formatting item is not available, proceed step by step: first click on "Delete volume". Then select the same flash drive and the "Create Volume" command.
In the new window, leave all the default options and click "Next" until the formatting of the SD card is completed.

How to format a memory card on your phone

If you need to delete all files from the microSD or SD card on your mobile device, then you can do it without connecting the card to the computer. It is enough to go to the settings of the smartphone and find the necessary items.

The names of the menu sections in different Android shells are quite similar, so you can take this path as a basis.

Open the "Settings" of your smartphone.
Go to "Memory" and go to the "Removable storage" section. This will show how much memory is already used on the card and how much is available.
Select "Format". A page will open warning you that all data on the SD card will be deleted. If you are sure of your decision, click the "Clean and Format" button and wait for the files to finish deleting.

Advice: Before formatting a memory card, create backup the data that is stored on it. It is convenient to use Yandex.Disk to save photos and videos - this is cloud storage allows you to download videos and photos for free and unlimited. You can find an overview of good cloud programs at.