How to Format SD Memory Card, USB Flash Drive on Windows and Android Phone

What does it mean to empty storage?

When you click the Clear data button in the Android application manager, all user information for a specific program is deleted, including the game cache (again, in the general case). That is, after clearing the application data, it returns to the same state as it was immediately after installation.

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Formatting a memory card

To clean memory cards used in phones, cameras and other portable devices, a formatting process is used.

Users feel that there are no difficulties in the formatting process. It is enough to connect a card reader to a personal computer and use a special standard Windows “formatter” to clean the card. In some cases, such actions do not bring results.

To format, you need to go to “My Computer”, right-click on the “Removable Disk” shortcut. In the context menu that appears, select the “Format” command. Then, in the “File system” section, specify the required parameter.

In this way, you can quickly and effectively clear a memory card of information. If somehow the cleaning fails and the files are not deleted, you can use third-party software.

Check apps on your phone

How to clear memory on a Samsung phone? Try getting rid of all games and applications. It happens that many of them were installed on a smartphone, but were later forgotten about. Such programs continue to receive updates and, accordingly, upload their files to the archive.

It is also worth understanding that there are some games that record data and statistics into memory as they progress. Sometimes they can take up more than 1 GB of free space. If you stop playing a game, it's best to delete it.

Perform a reset or flashing

Sometimes system errors force the user to take drastic measures. Sometimes neither manual removal nor auxiliary utilities give the desired result. The phone is still slow, and the memory is full of “invisible” files.

In this case, it is worth mentioning such a concept as the “gray sector”. This is a common Android problem. Devices are suddenly filled with files that cannot be found or deleted.

In this case, you have to use formatting (in the case of external memory) or resetting to factory settings if we are talking about internal storage.

Some also use flashing, but if installed incorrectly, it can harm the system. Therefore, it is better to use a Hard Reset, which will rid the phone not only of system failures, but also of malware that is difficult to detect by antivirus programs or manually.

Deleting files using a file manager

You will need any file manager. In our examples we use ES conductor.

Download FM from the Google Play Store, if you don’t already have it, install it and launch it. When you launch you will see something like this:

Highlighted in red is the device memory and memory card, respectively. Select the partition where you want to delete files.

Let's say the deletion will take place from the memory card. Select this section and see a list of folders and files.

To delete a folder, tap on it and hold your finger for about a second until it becomes highlighted, for example:

Then click on the trash can icon at the top of the screen to delete.

If you need to delete a file in a folder, go into the folder and do the same trick. File deleted.

Content

One of the common problems faced by owners of old or budget smartphones and tablets is the lack of internal memory. This difficulty leads to the need to find free space each time for new applications, and also makes it impossible to install updates to existing software, which leads to destabilization of the system. Let's look at the main ways to clear memory on Android devices.

You can view statistics on the load on the internal memory and SD card in the “Memory” (“Storage”, “Storage”) section of the device settings, or by opening the “Explorer” application, and then proceed to cleaning and optimization.

How can we format a memory card via a computer or laptop while at home?

Hello to all new and regular readers of my useful blog! The world of high technology is developing and growing rapidly. Not being able to use basic computer programs today is not just inconvenient. That's shameful! That's why I'm trying to help everyone interested in working with electronics.

I often hear the question: “How to format a memory card via a computer?” The question is necessary and I will not leave it unanswered. Microsd has entered our lives so firmly and, it seems, for a long time that the ability to maintain it is a matter of necessity. Are you tired yet? Then, let's go - look, figure it out, learn.

The micro-SD card is not formatted: what to do and how to revive the card

An SD card can behave no less capriciously than standard flash drives. Especially when trying to clear it completely of the data that has accumulated on it during use. This article discusses what to do if the SD card cannot be formatted. I advise you to read very carefully, as I will discuss additional problems along the way. Go!

Why formatting is necessary

The “formatting” function allows you to quickly clear the micro-SD from files, identify possible damage and fix it.

If the data on the card is important, duplicate it to your computer's hard drive or any other storage device.

Why might the SD card not be formatted?

There are several reasons why the SD card will not format:

  1. Forgot to move the switch on the card to the OFF position. This switch performs a protective function that does not allow data to be deleted from the drive until it is switched to the correct position.

  1. Antivirus is active. The antivirus always pays close attention to devices connected to the computer. Namely, it scans the drive for malicious code. When scanning occurs, the program reads information from the SD card, and during reading, no files can be erased. Before carrying out the operation, it is recommended to temporarily disable the antivirus.
  2. Operating system. Its scanners can also read information from a flash drive. Before clearing data, it is recommended to end processes that use the SD drive.
  3. SD card malfunction. There is a possibility that it simply fell into disrepair.

Normal formatting

On your computer, you can use a standard function that allows you to erase data:

  1. Go to This PC and find the SD card connected to it.

  1. Right-click and select “Format” from the menu that appears.

  1. Select the file system type that the memory card is converted to. Give it a name and choose between fast and slow formatting. Click "Start".

  1. Wait for it to finish (slow formatting restores the media better, but also takes longer).

Which file system to choose for micro-SD depends on its size. Set to FAT32 for cards with a recording space capacity of 32 GB. For drives with 64 GB or more, it is recommended to set exFAT. If the memory card is not formatted in a standard way, you can implement alternative methods for a more complex task.

Programs for formatting a memory card

AutoFormat Tool

This utility is simple and has a user-friendly interface. It contains no unnecessary elements.

To clear a memory card with this utility you need:

  1. After downloading the software, you need to right-click on the program shortcut. In the context menu, select the “Run as Administrator” command.
  2. The utility window opens. You need to select the letter of the memory card that needs to be cleared at the top in Disk Drive.
  3. Then click on SD and select the “Format” function.
  4. A window that appears will remind you that all files will be deleted. You need to agree and click the “Yes” button.

If you cannot format a memory card using the usual method, then the AutoFormat Tool will be the best utility. This program also formats USB flash drives.

HDD Low Level Format Tool

A multifunctional program that has functions for cleaning flash drives, disks and memory cards. Often it is used to completely clean the drive. The HDD Low Level Format Tool utility is used for low-level formatting.

Please note that after the formatting process with this program, the files from the drive can no longer be restored.

Formatting:

  1. Download and launch the utility. In the program window you need to select the flash drive and click on “Continue”.
  2. Go to the “LOW-LEVEL Format” section and select “FORMAT THIS DEVISE”.
  3. We are waiting for the end of the process.

The only drawback of the utility was the long formatting time.

SDFormatter

This is a specialized application that will suit our needs. The developers claim that SDFormatter provides more reliable memory card cleaning than using standard Windows tools.

Formatting:

  1. Download the utility and install it on your computer.
  2. In the “Drive” field, select a flash card if different removable drives are connected to the computer.
  3. Clicking "Options" selects the formatting type. It is recommended to set “Full (Earse)” and click “OK”.
  4. Click on “Format”.

Using a flash drive

An alternative way to store data from a smartphone is a USB drive. All gadgets from Android 4.0 and higher are compatible with flash drives. To connect, you will need a special adapter - an OTG cable. On one side it has a full-fledged USB connector, on the other - mini or microUSB.

An OTG cable can be used to connect the gadget not only to a flash drive, but also to other peripheral devices: mouse, keyboard, etc.

Next, to transfer data, you need to open the file explorer, select the one you need and move it to the flash drive.

These simple steps will help relieve the device's memory without losing information important to the user.

Phones often suffer from memory shortages. Even if the buyer chooses the most capacious version, sooner or later he will still encounter a similar problem. Most often this is due to the fact that system files are installed along with programs and games, which require additional space. Therefore, it is useful to know how to clear memory on Samsung in order to avoid drastic measures.

Clearing permanent memory

Read-only memory (ROM or ROM) is part of the gadget’s internal memory and is needed to store information about all processes ever running on the device: cache, accounts, photos, etc. This memory is not erased without the user's knowledge and remains constant for a long time.

To clear the ROM, take the following steps:

  1. The first step is to analyze the “filling” of the gadget, initiated by the device owner himself. These are downloaded applications and various kinds of files: photos, videos, audio recordings, messages, etc. Some information may be saved automatically. For example, media files transmitted via instant messengers (postcards, pictures, etc.), recordings of phone calls, temporary files. If any of this data is not valuable, is duplicated and is not used, you can safely delete it.
  2. Clean the cache regularly. To do this, the gadget has a built-in utility: “Settings” → “Memory” → “Cache data”.
  3. Deletes data from the .thumbnails folder. Thumbnails (snaps) of images from the gallery are loaded here to increase viewing speed. You can clear data on the device itself: “Tools” → “My files” → “Device memory” → DCIM → .thumbnails, as well as by connecting the smartphone to the computer via a USB cable.

In addition, Android applications allow you to clean the ROM:

Install special software

Your Samsung Galaxy may be slowing down. What to do in this case? This is largely due to system errors. But lack of memory can also affect the correct operation of the device.

Therefore, in addition to cleaning your smartphone’s archives, you need to install an auxiliary utility. Sometimes they come pre-installed and are suitable for such tasks. Sometimes you need to install them from Google Play.

Clean Master is considered a useful program. It helps not only to remove “garbage”, clear the cache and phone memory in general. The application copes with the overall acceleration of the system, helps find errors and corrects them.

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