Can't Delete Files from USB Drives? Learn from This Guide

A USB flash drive is a commonly used portable data storage device, nowadays. In most cases, you can delete and manage files on the USB drive without hassles. But in some cases, the problem that you can’t delete files from a USB flash drive happens. To help you out of this dilemma, MiniTool Solutions gives this tutorial.

Right-clicking and choosing Delete from the context menu should be the well-known method to delete files. But you may receive an error message to prevent you from deleting files. There are several situations when you can’t delete files from a USB flash drive. Have a brief look:

The USB drive has write protection.
The USB drive is attacked by a virus.
The USB drive has some logical errors.
Etc.

Fix 1: Run a Virus Scan

Firstly, you can perform a virus scan using Windows Defender to check whether your device is attacked by viruses or malware.

1. Type Virus & threat protection in Windows Search and hit Enter to open the corresponding window.

2. Choose Scan options on the right pane.

3. Select one scan option according to your situation, then click Scan now.

Fix 2: Remove Write Protection from USB Flash Drive

If your USB drive is in write protection, you can’t delete or move any files from the USB drive. To delete files in the USB drive that cannot be deleted, you should remove write protection first.

1. Type Command Prompt into the Windows Search bar.

2. Right-click on the best-matched result, then choose Run as administrator.

3. Type the following command lines and hit Enter at the end of each one.

diskpart
list disk
select disk x (x refers to the number of your USB drive)
attributes disk clear readonly

Fix 3: Run the Error Checking Tool

In some cases, you are unable to delete files from the USB drive owing to the corrupted or inaccessible files. You can run the Error Checking tool to detect the file system problem.

1. Press Win + E to open File Explorer.

2. Right-click on the USB drive on the left side pane and choose Properties from the context menu.

3. Shift to the Tool tab and click on the Check button under the Error checking section.

Fix 4: Format the USB Drive

The last method is to format the USB drive. Formatting can fix most errors on your USB drive, like you can’t delete files in the USB drive, but will erase all your data.

MiniTool Partition Wizard is a comprehensive partition management tool. You can run this software to format and resize partitions for the basic needs. Additionally, it supports moving OS to HDD/SSD, rebuilding MBR, performing surface tests, and other professional functions.

MiniTool Partition Wizard FreeClick to Download100%Clean & Safe

To format a USB drive with MiniTool Partition Wizard, you need to download and install it on your computer.

After connecting the USB drive to the computer, launch the software. Then, you can choose the USB partition and click on Format Partition under the Partition Management section on the left pane. Now, you can modify the settings.

Click OK to start the formatting process. Then, you can preview the USB status. If some information is wrong, you can undo the change and reset it. Click Apply at the bottom left to fully apply the change.

Final Words

This is all about how to fix can’t delete files from the USB drive. You can try the methods mentioned above to delete the file and fix problems on the USB drive. If your files are lost during the fixing process, try MiniTool Power Data Recovery to get them back.

Hope this post gives you some inspiration.

About The Author

Andrea Follow Us

Position: Columnist

Andrea graduated in English and has a keen interest in the IT industry and questions that arise when computers are used. She is passionate about new things and challenging things and has a wide range of interests like playing guitar, gaming, and crafting.

Fix Can’t Delete Files from a USB Flash Drive Within a Few Steps