Kingston Format Utility Fail? Fix with Kingston Format Tool [2024 Guide]

Stay calm if the Kingston format utility format fails to format your 4/16/32/64/128 GB Kingston DTSE9, Kingston Traveler G4, or Kingston DT50 USB pen drives. This page will present you with 3 reliable Kingston usb format tools to fix this issue and format your Kingston USB or pen drive to function normally again.

Replax if you can't format USB drive if your Kingston format utility fails, this page covers 3 reliable solutions to help you fix this issue. Follow to successfully format Kingston USB drives with the provides solutions here:

Error: Kingston Format Utility Format Fail

Kingston USB Format Utility (kingston_format_utility.exe) is a small Windows piece of software that you can download it for free on the Kingston official website.

Kingsting Format Utility is designed to format Kingston HyperX series (DTHX30/XXGB) USB flash drives. With the Kingston format utility, you can:

• Repair USB corruption
• Fix a RAW USB drive
• Format the matched USB pen drive and use it like a new drive
• Remove unknown viruses and troubleshoot many file system-based problems

How to Use Kingston Format Utility?

Step 1. Insert the Kingston USB in the USB port of a computer.

Step 2. Start the Kingston Format Utility.

Step 3. You'll quickly receive the prompt "format success".

Error: Kingston Format Utility Fail to Format USB Drives

Why does Kingston format utility format fail? Though it's the Kingston branded USB flash drive, sometimes you are unable to format it in the format utility.

In general, the reasons are as follows:

• Your Kingston flash drive does not belong to the HyperX series. E.g. You cannot format Kingston DataTraveller 2.0, DT50,  DTSE9, DataTraveller G3...
• The Kingston USB flash drive or pen drive is read-only or write-protected. You must unlock the drive in order to format it with success.
• Other severe damage to the flash drive ports, chips, etc.

So how do you fix Kingston format utility fail to format USB error? Here we have collected 3 reliable methods that you can follow and apply to format Kingston USB drives without using Kingston format utility:

1. Fix 1. Use Third-party Kingston USB Format Tool
2. Fix 2. Use Disk Management
3. Fix 3. Use CMD

Fix 1. Format Kingston USB Flash Drive with Third-party USB Formatting Tool

EaseUS Partition Master is developed as a perfect disk formatting tool that can seamlessly solve the Kingston format utility format failure issue on a variety of capacities.

You cannot format and repair Kingston pen drive when it goes wrong and stops working, especially when Windows send you error messages, like "Windows was unable to complete the format" or "the format did not complete successfully".

Fortunately, all the problems you may encounter during the course of Kingston troubleshooting, EaseUS partition magic can perfectly solve! It can help you easily complete the Kingston pen drive format job while the Kingston format utility or Disk Management tool failed.

To format a Kingston USB flash drive with EaseUS Partition Master:

Step 1. Select the USB drive to format.

Connect the USB drive or pen drive to your computer. Download and launch EaseUS partition software. Right-click the USB drive you intend to format and choose "Format".

Step 2. Set the drive letter and file system on USB.

Assign a new partition label, file system (NTFS/FAT32/EXT2/EXT3/EXT4/exFAT), and cluster size to the selected partition, then click "OK".

Step 3. Check "Yes" to confirm formatting USB.

Click "Yes" if you see the Warning window. If you have important data on it, back up the data in advance.

Step 4. Apply the changes.

Click the "Execute 1 Task(s)" button first, and then click "Apply" to format the USB drive.

Fix 2. Format Kingston USB Flash Drive in Disk Management

Windows Disk Management is a universally applied way to format a computer internal storage or removable hard disks. You can easily access Windows Disk Management in Windows 7, 8 and 10 and format any series of your Kingston USB flash drive when the official format utility fails.

To format a Kingston USB flash drive in Windows Disk Management:

Step 1. Navigate to My Computer (Windows 7) or This PC (Windows 10) > Manage > Disk Management.

Step 2. Right-click on the Kingston USB flash drive and choose "Format".

Step 3. Choose the desired file system and perform a quick format. Click "OK".

Important: Though powerful enough, Windows Disk Management cannot format a Kingston USB drive or SD card over 32GB to FAT32. If you're planning to format a 64GB USB drive to FAT32, you must turn to the Fix 1 - applying third-party EaseUS partition manager.

Fix 3. Format Write-protected Kingston Flash Drive

CMD command line in Windows DOS is one of the solutions to repair and fix a write-protected memory card or flash drive, including all series of Kingston flash drives. Working as a write protection tool, it can help you remove the write protection within simple steps. Afterward, you can feel free to format the Kingston drive in whatever format utilities you like.

#1. Remove Write Protection from Kingston USB using CMD

Step 1. Press "Windows + R" and enter cmd. Open Command Prompt as Administrator.

Step 2. Type diskpart and hit Enter.

Step 3. Type the following command lines each after and hit Enter each time.

• list disk
• select disk x (x is the number of your Kingston flash drive that you want to remove write protection from)
• attributes disk clear readonly

If you don't consider yourself a pro-computer user and you're not familiar with command-lines, don't worry. There are graphical-based solutions to help you remove write-protection from your hard drives, USB drives, and even SD cards.

EaseUS CleanGenius is one of these tools that helps you fix aforementioned issues on your drives without knowing a thing about command-line.

Here's an easy-to-follow guide on how to use this tool to get your issues sorted:

Step 1: DOWNLOAD and install EaseUS CleanGenius (free) on your computer.

Step 2: Run EaseUS CleanGenius on your PC, select Optimization and choose the Write Protection mode.

Step 3: Select the device that is write-protected and click Disable to remove the protection.

#2. Format Kingston USB Using CMD

Step 1. Connect USB to your PC and confirm its drive letter.

Step 2. Open CMD by searching cmd and right-click Command Prompt.

Step 3. Type the following commands and hit Enter each time:

• diskpart
• list disk
• select disk * (Replace * with the disk number of USB)
• list volume
• select volume * (Replace * with the volume number of USB)
• format fs=ntfs quick or format fs=fat32 quick
• exit

Replace E with the drive letter of your Kingston usb drive letter.

Step 4. Once done, close command prompt window.

All the solutions are demonstrated with a detailed guide. If by chance, your case is not solved by following the advice here, try to scan and remove the virus.

To Sum Up

Regarding the topic of how to fix Kingston format utility format failure, we come up with three effective solutions, including:

1. [1] Format the Kingston flash drive with EaseUS formatting tool
2. [2] Format the Kingston flash drive in Windows Disk Management
3. [3] Remove write protection using cmd or an write protection removable tool and format the USB

Among the 3 methods, EaseUS formatting tool - Partition Master is the easiest and most efficient solution to format Kingston USB drives and other brands of USB drives, external hard drives, etc., storage devices.

FAQs About Kingston Format Utility

If you still have problems with Kingston format utility or about formatting Kingston USB flash drives, follow the questions as listed below to get answers now.

1. Is Kingston USB FAT32?

It depends. If your Kingston USB is larger than 32GB, its file system format could be exFAT or NTFS.

If the Kingston USB is less than 32GB, its file system will be FAT32 by default.

2. How do I format my Kingston dt50?

If your Kingston DT50 is smaller than 32GB, you can format it using File Explorer:

• Connect Kingston DT50 to your computer.
• Open File Explorer, right-click on Kingston DT50 and select "Forma".
• Set the file system as FAT32, tick "Perform Quick Format", click "OK" and "Yes".

If your Kingston DT50 is larger than 32GB, you'll need third-party USB format tool for help. EaseUS Partition Master is the one that you can rely on. Just simply go back to Method 2 as shown above to format your USB drive.

3. Can Kingston Format Utility format write protected USB?

No, Kingston Format Utility, like Windows Disk Management and File Explorer, cannot directly format a write-protected USB. When your USB shows "the disk is write protected", you'll need to first remove write protection from the USB drive, and then apply the formatting utility to format the USB to a normal state.