Easily Remove the “Read Only” State from a USB Drive on PC

PDF download Download Article
Step-by-step instructions to remove read-only state from a thumb drive
PDF download Download Article

If you are trying to do something with a read-only state USB, several things may occur:


1. If trying to copy something to your USB Drive, get an error notification.
2. If you are trying to format your drive you may get "Write-protected".
These means that your drive is in Read-only state. If you need to change this so that you can edit the contents of the drive, you can change the state of your USB drive on Windows system using 'Command Prompt'.

Method 1
Method 1 of 1:

Windows

PDF download Download Article
  1. [1]
  2. Advertisement
  3. [2]
  4. Where the pop-up window appears, click on Yes to accept it. [3]
  7. Then type diskpart and press OK .
  8. It will show all the connected drives including your USB. The newly connected USB drive should be the last on that list. Or you can find your drive by looking on the size of drives.
  10. Here the current read-only state as "on" means the drive is read-only.
  11. It will remove the current read-only state.
  12. It will show the change.
    16. Advertisement

Community Q&A

Search
Add New Question
  • Question
    My flash drive is in a current read only state but not read only, how do I fix this?
    Community Answer
    Solution 1. Check the physical switch. Solution 2. Open regedit and change registry key. Solution 3. Use the manufacturer's USB repair tool to restore read-only to normal.
    Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
    Thank you for your feedback.
    If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow
    Yes No
    Not Helpful 102 Helpful 52
  • Question
    Only current read only state says yes and my flash drive doesn't have a lock switch, how do I fix this?
    Community Answer
    Solution 1. Check the physical switch. Solution 2. Open regedit and change registry key. Solution 3. Use the manufacturer's USB repair tool to restore read-only to normal.
    Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
    Thank you for your feedback.
    If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow
    Yes No
    Not Helpful 118 Helpful 42
  • Question
    Only the current read-only state is yes, and all the others are no, how do I remove that?
    Community Answer
    USB disk cannot be OFFLINED. Do the following; diskpart> sel disk, diskpart> attrib disk clear, Readonly, diskpart> attrib disk. Now try to write a file to this disk and let me know if it works.
    Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
    Thank you for your feedback.
    If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow
    Yes No
    Not Helpful 188 Helpful 54
See more answers
Ask a Question
200 characters left
Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered.
Submit
      Advertisement

      Video

      Tips

      Submit a Tip
      All tip submissions are carefully reviewed before being published
      Name
      Please provide your name and last initial
      Submit
      Thanks for submitting a tip for review!

      You Might Also Like

      2 Simple Ways to Erase and Format a USB Flash Drive
      How to
      Make a Bootable USB Drive on Windows & macOS
      6 Ways to Repair a USB Flash Drive
      4 Simple Ways to Format and Clear an SD Memory Card
      3 Quick Ways to Permanently Remove Write Protection from an SD Card
      How to
      Save Files to a USB Flash Drive
      A Guide to Disabling Write Protection
      How to
      Reformat an External Hard Drive on Windows or Mac
      How to
      Partition a Thumb Drive
      How to
      Boot from an External Hard Drive
      How to
      Transfer Music to a Flash Drive
      How to
      Add an External Hard Drive
      2 Ways to Test a USB's Speed on a Computer
      Easy Ways to Use a USB Flash Drive
      Advertisement

      References

      1. ↑ https://www.easeus.com/partition-master/current-read-only-state-yes.html#4
      2. ↑ https://www.easeus.com/partition-master/current-read-only-state-yes.html#4
      3. ↑ https://www.easeus.com/partition-master/current-read-only-state-yes.html#4

      About This Article

      In other languages
      Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 277,244 times.

      Is this article up to date?

      Advertisement