How to Perform Low Level Format in Windows 11

What Is Low-Level Format?

Low-level formatting is the next step up from standard formatting. In a standard format, the data is simply erased and you can always restore it using any recovery software. However, if you want to completely destroy data and prevent data leakage, low-level formatting is your best choice.

A low-level format starts by formatting the disk drive. It then packs the remaining space with a zero value, causing the data to be permanently deleted. In this case, after your data is deleted, others cannot access or recover it. On this page, we will show you how to do low-level format in Windows 11 with Diskpart, a command-line utility used to manage hard disk partitions and volumes.

How to Protect Data Security Before Formatting

Before you start to perform low-level formatting in Windows 11 through Diskpart, in order to avoid data loss caused by formatting, you can use a free and safe backup and restore software - AOMEI Backupper Standard to help you backup before formatting the disk.

This way, even if any problem happens to your disk accidentally, you can quickly restore it using the disk backup you created earlier. This software supports all Windows operating systems, including Windows 7/8/8.1/10/11/XP/Vista, etc.

• Scheduled Backup: The software allows you to set up scheduled automatic disk backups on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis, so you can always keep the latest backup version of your system/disk.
• Incremental backup: Incremental backup will only back up the changed parts, so this method will help you save backup time and storage space.
• Different Paths: You can backup your disk to different destinations, such as local disk, external disk, HDD, SSD, USB drive, NAS, etc.

First, download and install this freeware, then follow the graphic tutorial below. If you are a Windows Server user, you can pick AOMEI Backupper Server.

Step 1. Open AOMEI Backupper Standard. Open the software, and click Backup > Disk Backup.

Step 2. Click Add Disk to choose the disk that you want to be formatted.

Step 3. You need to select the destination for your disk backup and then click Start Backup.

Notes:

• Options: It allows you to write comments, compress or split an image file, and enable email notifications.
• Schedule Backup: It supports setting a backup task to run automatically at fixed intervals, such as Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Event triggers and USB plug in.
• Backup Scheme: It offers 3 backup methods (Full/Incremental/Differential Backup). And the differential backup method is easier to restore, you can upgrade to the Professional or higher versions to enjoy it.  After the upgrade, you can also enable automatic backup cleanup feature to delete older backups regularly.

Perform Low-Level Format in Windows 11 via Diskpart

If you know the computer software a little bit and do not want to install third-party software, DiskPart, a free low-level format tool, can be a good choice for you. You can follow the graphic tutorial below to learn how to low level format disk via DiskPart.

Step 1. Press Win+R and press Enter after typing CMD.

Step 2. Type diskpart in the command prompt and press enter.

Step 3. On the next CMD window, type list disk, and press Enter.

Step 4. You will then see a list of disks; select the disk you want to format.

Step 5. When the disk is selected, type clean all and press enter.

After entering all the low level formatting command, wait patiently, because the process might take several minutes to complete. When the formatting process is completed, enter the following commands and press enter after each one:

• create partition primary 
• format fd=ntfs quick 
• assign 

Summary

This article explains what low-level formatting is and how to perform low-level formatting in Windows 11 via Diskpart. Low-level formatting permanently deletes data and cannot be recovered by recovery software. Therefore, in order to avoid data loss, it is recommended that you back up the disk in advance with the free and safe backup software AOMEI Backupper Standard. You can save the disk backup to different destination paths, and you can also choose different b backup methods and set regular backup frequency.

In addition, this software also provides functions such as partition backup, system backup and file backup to protect your data in an all-around way. With these backups, even if your data is accidentally lost, you can use the backup files for quick restoration without losing any data. It also provides you with Disk Wipe, Recovery Environment, and other useful functions in Pro and higher versions. Download this software to explore more.