How can I format my USB drive in Lubuntu?

Question

I have created a bootable USB drive to install Lubuntu. Now I would like to format the drive so I can use it normally. How can I do that?

Answer 1

In Lubuntu the terminal might be the fastest way to format a USB drive.

Find the usb partition: lsblk

alvaro@GNUM4600:~$ lsblk
NAME   MAJ:MIN RM   SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINT
sda      8:0    0 465.8G  0 disk 
├─sda1   8:1    0 457.9G  0 part /
├─sda2   8:2    0     1K  0 part 
└─sda5   8:5    0   7.9G  0 part [SWAP]
sdb      8:16   0 238.5G  0 disk 
└─sdb1   8:17   0 238.5G  0 part 
sdc      8:32   1   1.9G  0 disk /media/alvaro/68A2-E93E   <--------------- This is it *
sr0     11:0    1  1024M  0 rom  

Unmount it: umount /dev/sdc

alvaro@GNUM4600:~$ umount /dev/sdc

Make the file system on the entire device: sudo mkfs.vfat -I /dev/sdc

alvaro@GNUM4600:~$ sudo mkfs.vfat -I /dev/sdc

Answer 2

There are several options, but assuming you want something "standard" - I would use mkfs.vfat /dev/[MY-USB-DRIVE]. You can run whatever FS you want on there, but vfat is what they usually ship with (e.g. will work on Windows).

Answer 3

use gparted

If it shows a lock next to the partition you'll need to unmount before removing it (right click - unmount)

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/17001/how-to-format-a-usb-drive-in-ubuntu-using-gparted/