Format USB Flash Drive Or Memory Card With NTFS In Windows

By Nakodari on Jan 18 2009 2 Comments

All latest USB drives already come optimized, so you can easily format them in NTFS. But some USB drives and Memory sticks don’t come optimized therefore you can’t format them into NTFS, but there is this trick that will allow you to do it, no matter what. USB drives that are not optimized only display FAT and FAT32 while formatting, this trick will enable bringing the options of NTFS too.

Go to Computer Management by right-clicking Computer and selecting Manage.

computer manage

Now go to Device Manager and select your USB drive or Memory card.

device manager

Now right-click your device and go to Properties. Go to Policies tab, select Optimize for Performance and click OK.

optimize for performance

Now try formatting your USB or memory stick and you will find NTFS option listed there.

format memory stick

Select it and click Format. That’s all. Enjoy!

  • Patty

    Nice trick Nakodari… I use the Cruzer Enterpirse Secure USB drive. It’s a great product to have if you are looking for data protection and backup. I recommend taking a look at SanDisk’s secure USB drives

  • Leanna

    This fix worked… thanks so much!!!!