USB drive says it needs to be formatted, how to fix and recover data?
I have a 32GB USB flash drive when I try to open and get message: "USB flash drive drive is not formatted, do you want to format it now?", how can I solve this issue without formatting because I have some important data stored on USB flash drive?
How to do when encountering USB flash drive not formatted error?
To get back the accessibility of the USB flash drive, you have to format USB flash drive, but formatting would erase all the data from USB flash drive, it is not preferred until you recover lost data from RAW USB flash drive. So the first thing that is recommended in such situation is to stop using the affected USB flash drive, you should immediately attach it to a computer where the data recovery software is installed and perform the data recovery operation.
However, sometimes you may accidentally click "Format Disk" and lost all data. if you have formatted your USB flash drive unknowingly after getting this USB flash drive not formatted error, you still have the chance to recover lost data from formatted USB flash drive, but the chance of complete recovery is less, especially for the large files, such as vidoes, audios.
What's worse, the USB flash drive still cannot be formatted even if you choose to format it, in this situation, the first thing is to recover lost data.
How to fix USB flash drive not formatted error and recover lost data?
USB flash drive not formatted error may be caused by virus attack, corrupted file system, improper ejection, physical damage, etc. Different scenarios need different recovery method, therefore, here, we have two cases:
1. 'USB flash drive not formatted' error is caused by logical errors, such as damaged file system structure.
2. 'USB flash drive not formatted' error is caused by physical damage.
In the first case, the USB drive data recovery software can do the needful for you even if you have formatted USB flash drive, but in the second case, hardware issue is beyond of any data recovery software, the best way is to send the physically failed USB flash drive to a local data recovery company for help.
As a professional data recovery software, iBoysoft Data Recovery can fix USB flash drive not formatted logical error, recover lost data from unformatted USB flash drive, recover lost data from formatted USB flash drive, recover deleted files from USB flash drive, etc. on Windows 10/8/7/XP and Windows Server 2016/2012/2008/2003.
Tutorial to fix USB flash drive not formatted logical error and recover lost data
Step 1: Connect the unformatted USB flash drive to the computer.
Step 2: Download, install and launch iBoysoft Data Recovery. After that, choose RAW Drive Recovery module on main interface.
Step 3: Choose the unformatted USB flash drive and then click Next.
Step 4: Check the files in the unformatted USB flash drive.
Step 5: Click "Fix Drive" to fix USB flash drive not formatted logical error. If USB flash drive not formatted logical error cannot be fixed, please switch to Data Recovery mode and then recover lost data from unformatted USB flash drive.