How to Remove Write Protection from a USB Pen Drive | Wiki How To Planet

You may use Windows 10 or 11 to remove write protection from a USB drive by following this Wiki How To Planet tutorial. If a USB drive is write-protected, you may encounter the Windows error "The disk is write protected" and be unable to modify, remove, save, or transfer files on the drive. You must remove the write protection in order to work with the files on the drive. The drive might be harmed if write protection cannot be turned off.

Turning Off Write Protection

Locate the physical lock switch on your USB drive's outside. The switch can be slid from "On" to "Off." By doing this, the USB drive's write protection will be removed. Additionally, you can disable BitLocker, utilize File Explorer, modify the registry, or use Diskpart.

Method 1

Using the Physical Lock Switch

Locate the USB drive's physical lock switch. Usually, it can be found on the USB's left or right side. Depending on the USB brand, its placement may change. You can locate your USB drive by looking at its surface.

Switch off the actual lock switch. The switch can be slid from "On" to "Off." By doing this, the USB drive's write protection will be removed.

Verify whether you were able to remove the USB's write protection. Try editing the files after reconnecting the USB to the computer. If the write protection has been lifted, you can make changes to the files.

Method 2

Using Diskpart

Hit the Windows Key + R. If you type the right commands, the Run window that appears can assist you in running programs and apps.

In the Run window, type diskpart and hit ↵ Enter. Diskpart.exe is launched by this command.

Diskpart can also be opened by typing it into the search box, which is often located on the taskbar.

In the diskpart window, type list disk and press ↵ Enter. This command enumerates every disk—including the USB pen drive—that is attached to your Windows computer.

Choose your USB drive. To accomplish this, type choose disk (number) and hit ↵ Enter. Then, you should be able to determine the drive number for your USB drive based on the size in the "Size" column.

For instance, type select disk 2 if your USB device is Disk 2.

Press ↵ Enter after typing attricutes disk clear readonly. Your USB drive's write protection is removed with this command. You will receive notification from the Diskpart application that the USB drive's write protection has been removed.

To close Diskpart, type exit when you're done.

Try formatting the drive if you receive an error or if disabling write protection does not resolve the issue. Try it on a different computer if it doesn't work. The USB drive is probably broken if you are still unable to format 

Method 3

Using File Explorer

Launch File Explorer. You can either right-click the Start menu and choose File Explorer, or you can click the File Explorer icon in the Start menu.

Choose Properties after doing a right-click on your USB disk. This opens the pen drive's properties.

Click OK after removing the checkmark from the "Read-only" box, which will remove write protection from the USB drive. If this doesn't work, try formatting the drive; if that doesn't work, try it on a different computer. If you are still unable to format the USB drive, it is probably damaged.

Method 4

Using the Registry Editor

Launch Registry Editor. A USB pen drive's write protection can be removed by editing the registry. Click Registry Editor after typing regedit into the Windows search box to launch the editor.

Go to the folder called Control. To go there, follow these steps:

The HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE folder should open.

Select the folder named SYSTEM.

Select the folder named CurrentControlSet.

Select the Control folder.

The StorageDevicePolicies folder can be created or opened. Right-click a blank space in the right panel and choose New > Key if you can't find this in the Control folder. Press Enter after typing StorageDevicePolicies.

Make a fresh DWORD. To accomplish this, choose the StorageDevicePolicies folder, then choose New > DWORD from the right-hand panel's menu. Press ↵ Enter after typing WriteProtect.

Click WriteProtect twice. The "Edit DWORD" window opens as a result.

Click OK after entering a zero in the "Value data" column. The pen drive's write protection will be turned off by the zero.

Try formatting the drive if deleting the write protection doesn't help. Try it on a different computer if it doesn't work. The USB drive is probably broken if you are still unable to format it

Method 5

Turning Off BitLocker

Launch File Explorer. If BitLocker has encrypted your USB disk, use this procedure. By right-clicking the Start menu and choosing File Explorer, you may quickly launch File Explorer.

The USB drive is located in the "This PC" section of the left panel. The drive will be protected by BitLocker if it has a padlock on it.

Right-click the USB drive and pick Manage BitLocker. When you right-click the USB drive, you can see various options. This allows you to turn off the BitLocker.

To disable BitLocker, click on Turn Off BitLocker. This action eliminates write protection and turns off BitLocker on your USB disk. A notification informing you that the operation will take some time will appear.