How to Fix Your USB Drive Showing Wrong Size on Windows (with diskpart)

Introduction

In this tutorial, we will guide you through the process of fixing a USB drive that shows an incorrect size on Windows. This often occurs when the drive is recognized with less space than it actually has. We will utilize the diskpart command to clean and format the USB drive properly, restoring its full capacity. This method is useful for anyone experiencing issues with their USB drive's storage reporting.

Step 1: Open Command Prompt as Administrator

1. Press the Windows key on your keyboard.
2. Type "cmd" or "Command Prompt."
3. Right-click on the Command Prompt application and select Run as administrator.

Step 2: Open Diskpart Utility

1. In the Command Prompt window, type the following command and press Enter:

   diskpart
   

2. This will open the diskpart utility, which allows you to manage your disks.

Step 3: List Available Disks

1. In the diskpart window, type the following command and press Enter:

   list disk
   

2. This command will display all the connected drives. Identify your USB drive by its size.

Step 4: Select Your USB Drive

1. Once you have identified your USB drive, type the following command, replacing X with the disk number of your USB drive:

   select disk X
   

2. Ensure you are selecting the correct disk, as this process will erase all data on the selected drive.

Step 5: Clean the USB Drive

1. To remove all partitions and data from the USB drive, type the following command and press Enter:

   clean
   

2. This command will wipe the drive, preparing it for reformatting.

Step 6: Create a New Partition

1. After cleaning the drive, type the following command to create a new partition:

   create partition primary
   

2. This command will establish a new primary partition on the USB drive.

Step 7: Format the New Partition

1. To format the new partition, use the following command, which formats the drive to NTFS (you can replace NTFS with FAT32 if needed):

   format fs=ntfs quick
   

2. The quick option speeds up the formatting process.

Step 8: Assign a Drive Letter

1. To make the USB drive accessible, assign a drive letter by typing:

   assign
   

2. This will automatically assign the next available drive letter.

Step 9: Exit Diskpart

1. To exit the diskpart utility, type:

   exit
   

2. Then close the Command Prompt window.

Conclusion

By following these steps, you should have successfully restored your USB drive to its correct size and functionality. Always remember to back up any important data before performing operations that alter disk partitions. If you continue to experience issues, consider checking for hardware problems or using disk checking tools. Now your USB drive should be ready for use with its full storage capacity restored!