Specify the file system you want to use (usually NTFS), select Next, and then Finish.ĭisks can be divided up into multiple chunks called partitions. Specify the drive letter you want to assign to the volume and then select Next. Select Next, specify the size of the volume (you'll likely want to stick with the default, which uses the whole drive), and then select Next. Select and hold (or right-click) the unallocated space on the drive and then select New Simple Volume. If initializing fails for some reason, see A disk's status is Not Initialized or the disk is missing entirely. The disk status briefly changes to Initializing and then to the Online status. If you need to change the partition style (GPT or MBR) see About partition styles - GPT and MBR. In the Initialize Disk dialog box (shown here), check to make sure that the correct disk is selected and then click OK to accept the default partition style. Note that some USB drives don't have the option to be initialized, they just get formatted and a drive letter.

If the disk is listed as Offline, first right-click it and select Online. In Disk Management, right-click the disk you want to initialize, and then click Initialize Disk (shown here). If you can't open it as an administrator, type Computer Management instead, and then go to Storage > Disk Management. To do so, in the search box on the taskbar, type Disk Management, select and hold (or right-click) Disk Management, then select Run as administrator > Yes. Open Disk Management with administrator permissions. If you prefer using PowerShell, use the initialize-disk cmdlet instead. Here's how to initialize a new disk using Disk Management. Instead we recommend troubleshooting the disk to see if you can read the files - see A disk's status is Not Initialized or the disk is missing entirely.

If your disk already has files on it that you care about, don't initialize it - you'll lose all the files.

New hard drive install windows 10