- #HOW TO FORMAT MY HARD DRIVE TO DELETE UNNECESSARY FILES HOW TO#
- #HOW TO FORMAT MY HARD DRIVE TO DELETE UNNECESSARY FILES FULL#
- #HOW TO FORMAT MY HARD DRIVE TO DELETE UNNECESSARY FILES PC#
- #HOW TO FORMAT MY HARD DRIVE TO DELETE UNNECESSARY FILES WINDOWS#
Your computer has to load each individual icon when you don’t organize your desktop, which takes up a lot of RAM space. Organizing desktop icons into folders cleans up your background, and it also cuts down your computer’s RAM usage. But if your disk has plenty of room, there could be something wrong with your operating system. If your hard disk is almost full, you need to remove some programs and files to improve your computer’s speed. Delete browser extensions or plugins you don’t useĪ common rule of thumb to keep your computer running fast is to have at least 15% of its hard disk space free.Remove unused dashboard widgets or gadgets.Shut down or restart your computer at least once a week.If your computer is hot to the touch, let it cool down.Stop programs from automatically launching when your computer turns on.Save old pictures and videos to the cloud or an external hard drive.
#HOW TO FORMAT MY HARD DRIVE TO DELETE UNNECESSARY FILES WINDOWS#
After creating a bootable drive, you can then perform a clean installation of Windows 11 to restore your PC.13 Non-Technical Ways to Make Your Computer Run Faster If you’re having trouble with Windows 11, you may decide to create a Windows 11 bootable USB drive to fix it.
#HOW TO FORMAT MY HARD DRIVE TO DELETE UNNECESSARY FILES PC#
You can open File Explorer > This PC and see the new drive listed under the Devices and Drives section. The steps above should have helped you to successfully format a drive in Windows 11.Īt this point, your drive is ready to use-any existing data is erased, and you can begin to reuse it. When the formatting process is complete, a message will appear-click OK to confirm. The amount of time it takes will vary, based on the size of the drive, the amount of data on it, and whether you choose to “quick format” the drive or not. You’ll see a progress bar during the formatting process. When you’re ready, click OK to begin the process. Again, ensure any data on the drive that you need is backed up. Next, you will see a warning message letting you know all data will be deleted.
#HOW TO FORMAT MY HARD DRIVE TO DELETE UNNECESSARY FILES FULL#
The option is yours, but you’ll probably want to do a full format on a drive that contains a lot of sensitive and personal data.Īfter you’ve made your formatting selections, press the Start button in the Format window. If you do a full format (which takes longer), Windows will scan for bad sectors and write zeros in each sector-deleting all of the data and making it unrecoverable. However, as you use the drive, the leftover data is overwritten. This means that data is still on the drive and could be recovered. Format Options: A quick format performs a high-level format, but it only deletes the file system table and root folder.After formatting, you’ll see the name of the drive in File Explorer. Volume Label: The volume label is simply the name you want to assign to the drive.Today, you can keep it set to the default value without problems. Adjusting this was something users would do back when all we had was clunky and slow hard disk drives. Allocation Unit Size: Unit size, aka “ cluster size,” is set to 4 Kilobytes for NTFS by default, which is a small block.FAT32 has a 4GB limit and isn’t optimal in modern computing environments. Use the latter if you plan on using the drive on macOS and Windows. There are three file systems to choose from- FAT32, NTFS, and exFAT. File System: This represents the data structure that defines how data is stored on a drive.Note that the formatting process takes up some space on the drive. Capacity: The max data capacity of the hard drive once it’s formatted.Next, choose from the following options in the Format menu to format your drive: Right-click the drive you want to format under the Devices and Drives section, then click Format from the context menu that appears. It’s also worth noting that you can open File Explorer by clicking the folder icon on the taskbar.Īfter File Explorer opens, click on This PC from the column on the left. Next, right-click on Start and click File Explorer from the menu that comes up. To get started, make sure the disk you want to format is connected and recognized by Windows 11. Make sure to back up any critical files and folders before beginning the format process. Note: Formatting a drive will scrub all of the data on it.
#HOW TO FORMAT MY HARD DRIVE TO DELETE UNNECESSARY FILES HOW TO#
Here’s how to format a drive using File Explorer in Windows 11. Whenever you format a drive, whether it’s a solid-state drive or a classic hard drive, you’ll be able to choose a compatible file system like NTFS, FAT32, or exFAT. The formatting process also helps you ensure a drive uses the correct settings for your PC to avoid any compatibility issues.