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Flash drive needs to be formatted error

Have you ever been asked to format the flash drive when need to open it to access its original files? It is known to all of us that we can not open the flash drive before format it in that case. What’s more, we can not view information stored on the flash drive at the previous time even though format it later, because there would be nothing on the formatted flash drive. Does it mean that we can not access those files forever? Do not worry, as we can try to recover data from the unformatted flash drive.

Example of flash drive showing not formatted error

My flash drive needed to be formatted before I could use it normally last night, and then I plugged it out of my computer. I tried to open the flash drive to view files stored on it previously, but I was asked to format it, too, this morning. I have no idea what is going on, actually. Is there any possibility for me to access files useful on the unformatted flash drive, or should I format the problematic flash drive? Please kindly help me if you knew how to read the original data? -Lucy from Utah

How to retrieve information from the unformatted flash drive with data recovery software

It is possible to perform data recovery when asked to format the flash drive before we can use it. So we should not format the questionable flash drive immediately though we would be asked to do, and the first thing we can do is to recover files from the unformatted flash drive if those previous contents were vital. Here are the steps below:

Recover data from flash drive

Preparation: Connect the flash drive to your computer and download the data recovery software. Then, you can install and run the data recovery software and select a recovery module.

1Download and install the data recovery software on the computer.
2Insert the flash drive not formatted to the same computer as the data recovery program mounted.
3Operate the data restoration tool on the computer and choose the recovery model and target disk to scan.
4Preview the contents in the list after the scan and then pick up the information vital to recover.

Various data loss problems related to format when use flash drive

We have said that it is better not to format the flash drive which is in not formatted error at once if we wanted to retrieve information saved on it at the original time. The reason is that all files and folders saved on the flash drive previously would be erased off it after the format, so we can not access any of them at that time. In conclusion, we would get into data loss trouble when the flash drive shows not formatted error or it was formatted. As a matter of fact, there are various data loss problems related to format when we use the flash drive and here are some of them as follows:

1. The flash drive was formatted by mistake or by intention. We may format the flash drive accidentally or intentionally sometimes, and then we would lose all contents stored on it at the original time. What we can do after formatting the flash drive in error if we wanted to access the previous files saved on it? As a matter of fact, we can ask the data recovery tool for help to get those original contents back from the formatted flash drive.

2. The flash drive shows not formatted error. We can not access information saved on the flash drive originally if it needed to be formatted like Lucy in example above. So we would lose files when the flash drive is unformatted. But just as what we have talked that we can try to restore contents important from the unformatted flash drive with the help of data restoration tool and then format the flash drive.

3. The flash drive was not formatted completely. We may meet such situation that sees information windows can not complete the format on the computer screen during the process of formatting the flash drive. As a result, the flash drive can not be formatted completely and we may not be able to view files saved on it at the previous time in that case. We can try to retrieve the information needed from that flash drive and then format it with the format tool.

4. Other data loss cases related to format we may meet when use the flash drive.

Storage devices may show need to be formatted error

Besides flash drive, we may meet not formatted problem when use other storage devices, such as hard disk drive, external hard drive, memory card, and so forth. We can try to recover files form those memory devices with data restoration software when they need to be formatted.

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