Microsoft just doesn’t want you to do it and there are good reasons why.īefore the reasons given for not using UDF as a format on flash drives, let’s clear one thing up: If you think formatting a flash drive as UDF will make the thumb drive appear as an optical drive in the computer – you are mistaken!įrom the Wikipedia page about Universal Disk Format, UDF, the specification is governed by the Optical Storage Technology Association and because of that, many believe a UDF anything will work like a disc. The file system types listed by the Windows GUI (Graphical User Interface) will depend on the GB capacity of the flash drive connected.įirst, let me say it IS possible for Windows to format a flash drive as UDF (Universal Disk Format). Windows will also list NTFS for a flash drive, but not the best for a USB stick, as mentioned before. The proper file systems for a flash drive would be: FAT, FAT32 or exFAT. When trying to format a flash drive in Windows (7 or 10) you will see the file system options best suited for the device. Rich Gates ApUSB Hacks, USB News, USB Tutorials How To Format a Flash Drive as UDF (Windows 7 & 10 Solution)
