It’s possible that you (or the person who uses it) might have reformatted it into NTFS or another file system. For example, normally a new flash drive is initiated with FAT-32. There might also be compatibility issues between your flash drive and the PC.Īnother common reason is file system error. For example, the flash drive is corrupted due to improper ejection or an unexpected PC shutdown. Possible causes for those formatting errors also vary. Windows refuses to format your USB key or access files.The operation did not complete because the media is write protected.
Typical Errors When Windows Can’t Format USBĭepending on the operating systems (Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, XP) you are using, the error messages may vary from case to case.