Download WD Quick Formatter Alternative to Format External Hard Drive
WD Quick Formatter, also known as WD Advanced Format Utility, is a tool that allows you to reformat your WD external hard drive to NTFS, FAT32, or other file systems in Windows 11/10/8/7. It's typically used to repair corrupted hard disks that are unrecognized or inaccessible, fix format issues when Windows can't complete the format, change file systems, or optimize drive performance. However, it's essential to note that WD Quick Formatter is only for external drives and will result in a single partition on the drive after formatting, which is necessary for optimal performance.
WD Quick Formatter is available on the Western Digital official website and can be used to repair a corrupted external hard disk. The typical symptoms of a corrupted external hard disk include the power LED being on but the drive being inaccessible, accompanied by error messages.
To get access to your external hard drive, the most effortless way is to format it using the WD Quick Formatter. To do this, follow the steps: 1. Download and install WD Quick Formatter on your computer.
Step 1. Connect your WD external hard drive to your Windows PC and download the WD Quick Formatter to format it.
Step 2. Click "Continue" on the welcome screen to proceed to the next step.
Step 3. In the End User License Agreement page, click "Accept".
Step 4. The WD Quick Formatter tool will scan for WD external drives to be formatted.
To format a drive for use with a Windows system, select the XP Compatible option if the computer is running XP, or select the corresponding option for Windows 11/10/8/7. If the drive won't be used with Windows, choose Factory Default. Then, select the drive from the list and click "Format Drive".
Step 5. Once the Format is completed, click the "Format Another Drive" button to select another drive to format, or click the "Exit" button to exit the program.
Also read: How to Format WD My Passport for Mac and PC
If WD Quick Formatter fails to format your WD external hard drive due to errors, a reliable alternative is Qiling, a free partition tool that can successfully complete the disk formatting job in Windows 11/10/8/7. Many users have used this tool to format their WD external drives when the WD Quick Formatter tool failed.
If WD Quick Formatter fails to format an external drive, you can try using Qiling Partition Master, a free alternative that can format HDD, SSD, SD card, or USB drive.
| Comparison | Qiling Partition Master | WD Quick Formatter |
|---|---|---|
| Supported Device | HDD, SSD, external hard drive, USB, SD card, etc | Only external hard drive |
| Supported Operating Systems | Windows XP - Windows 11/10 | macOS 10.5-10.9 &Windows XP/2000 |
| Interface | New and user-friendly | old-fashioned |
| Easiness | Very easy | A little bit hard |
| Other features | Partition a hard drive, migrate OS, wipe data, clone a hard drive | / |
If you have other questions about the Western Digital format tool, you can read the questions and answers below.
Your firmware version can be found by accessing the device's web interface and locating the Firmware section.
Step 1. Connect WD My Passport to your Mac.
Step 2. Once that's done, double left-click on the Mac HD, the internal Mac hard drive visible on the top-right corner of the desktop screen, and select "Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility".
Step 3. Select your WD My Passport on the sidebar, choose "Erase".
Step 4. To format a drive, select the drive you want to format, click on the "Format" button, select the desired file system (such as MS-DOS (FAT) or ex-FAT File System), and then click "Erase" to complete the formatting process.
Step 1. To format a WD My Passport, open Windows File Explorer, locate the drive, right-click on it, and select "Format" from the context menu. This will open the Format dialog box where you can choose the file system and other settings.
Step 2. The drive should be renamed and its file system should be reset to FAT32 or exFAT.
Step 3. Click "Start" to begin the formatting.
NTFS is ideal for internal drives, while exFAT is ideal for flash drives, both with no realistic file-size or partition size limits. If a device is not compatible with NTFS, exFAT is a good alternative to FAT32.