If you have a removable disk, like a USB memory stick or an external hard
disk, you may sometimes wish to completely remove all of its files and
folders. You can do this by formatting the disk — this deletes all
of the files on the disk and leaves it empty.
Format a removable disk
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Open Disks from the Activities overview.
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Select the disk you want to wipe from the list of storage devices on the
left.
Make sure that you have selected the correct disk! If you choose the
wrong disk, all of the files on the other disk will be deleted!
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In the toolbar underneath the Volumes section, click the
menu button. Then click Format….
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In the window that pops up, choose a file system Type for the
disk.
If you use the disk on Windows and Mac OS computers in addition to Linux
computers, choose FAT. If you only use it on Windows, NTFS
may be a better option. A brief description of the file system type
will be presented as a label.
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Give the disk a name and click Format… to continue and show a
confirmation window. Check the details carefully, and click
Format to wipe the disk.
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Once the formatting has finished, click the eject icon to safely remove
the disk. It should now be blank and ready to use again.