The need for low level formatting tools for Windows arises when you want to format your hard disk so that it cannot be recovered even using the most sophisticated data recovery program. You can use it when reselling your computer or even to restore your device back to its full capacity. Here is a list of some of the best low level format tools for HDD.
| Top Software Reviews | Rating | |
|---|---|---|
| 1.HDD LLF Guru | ||
| 2.Wondersoft Disk Storage Low-Level Format | ||
| 3.EaseUS Partition Master | ||
| 4.DiskPart | ||
| 5.Lowvel | ||
| 6.MiniTool Partition Wizard | ||
| 7.AOMEI Partition Assistant | ||
| 8.IM-Magic Partition Resizer | ||
| 9.Active@ Partition Manager | ||
| 10.Acronis Disk Director | ||
What Is HDD Low Level Format Software?
You may have heard about formatting a hard disk. But what is it like using HDDGuru low level format tool and how is it different from a normal format?
In simple terms, when you use a low level format tool to format your hard drive, first, all the data is erased. However, it doesn’t end there; the tool also replaces it with zero-state bits.
This is where the distinction between regular or high-level formatting, and low level formatting of HDD comes to the scene. With high-level formatting data is cleared, partition tables are initialized, and new booting tables are created. Also, bad sectors and logical errors are removed.
What a low-level formatting tool does is that it reallocates the partitioning area and replaces them with zero bits, quite like when the hard disk came right off the factory. Here you delete everything – boot sectors, file formats, data, district DATA, identification ID, etc.
The question arises – Which are some of the best low level formatting tools for Windows 10 and other versions?
Best HDD LLF Low Level Format Tool for Windows 11/10/8.1/8/7
- 1
HDD LLF Guru- Support all major HDD manufacturers.
- Data restoration is impossible after using this utility.
- Supports big drives (LBA-48) as well
- $3.30 / year Download Here
- 2
Wondersoft Disk Storage Low-Level Format- Hides bad sectors.
- Erases data in an irreversible manner.
- Secure format that comes with a strong data wipe algorithm
- FreeDownload Here
- 3
EaseUS Partition Master- Hides bad sectors.
- Erases data in an irreversible manner.
- Secure format that comes with a strong data wipe algorithm
- $19.95 / year Download Here
- 4
DiskPart- Built into Windows OS.
- Dedicated commands for creating and formatting partitions and HDD.
- Support for virtual hard disks
- FreeDownload Here
- 5
Lowvel- Mentions device model, capacity serial number, and connection type.
- It lets you know if a device can be completely erased or not.
- Detects and reallocates bad sectors
- FreeDownload Here
- 6
MiniTool Partition Wizard- Format inaccessible hard drives
- Easily wipe off the disk and delete all partitions.
- Data backup and recovery
- $59 / year Download Here
- 7
AOMEI Partition Assistant- File shredder.
- Fix hard disk partition issues.
- Easy HDD formatting
- $39.95 / year Download Here
- 8
IM-Magic Partition Resizer- Format, wipe, delete, and other tasks on both disks and partitions.
- Tutorial for every functionality.
- Available for all Windows versions.
- FreeDownload Here
- 9
Active@ Partition Manager- Low-level disk editing of drives and partitions.
- Scan files by signatures.
- Needn’t shut down the system to perform operations.
- FreeDownload Here
- 10
Acronis Disk Director- Disk cloning.
- Easy partition management.
- Create a single logical volume from unallocated spaces
- FreeDownload Here
1. HDD LLF Guru
Windows Compatibility: Windows 11/ 8.1/8/7/XP/Server 2008/ Server2003
Price: $3.30 for personal/ home use (no speed limit)
Latest version: 4.40
First on our list is HDD LLF, a low-level formatting tool which is one of the most popular options since it follows the zero-filling hard drive process. It writes zero bytes to every single location of the hard drive. Once all partitions are wiped off, the data is irrecoverable.
- Support all major HDD manufacturers.
- Also conduct low-level formatting of flashcards.
- Data restoration is impossible after using this utility.
- Supports big drives (LBA-48) as well.
- Dated interface.
2. Wondersoft Disk Storage Low-Level Format
Windows Compatibility: Windows 11/10/8.1/8/7
Price: Free
Latest version: 7.0
This low-level format tool for Wondersoft doesn’t only zero-fill the storage device but even gets it back to a stage when it was working at its full capacity. It supports all types of storage devices connected to a computer, such as USB, SCSI, SATA, and IDE, and is a specialist when dealing with corrupt hard drives. It is also regarded as one of the best USB drive low-level format software.
Notable Features
- Hides bad sectors.
- Erases data in an irreversible manner.
- Adjust sector size from 512 bytes to 32 MB.
- Secure format that comes with a strong data wipe algorithm.
- Fix common hard disk issues.
- Support for all major file systems.
- Complicated interface.
3. EaseUS Partition Master
Windows Compatibility: Windows 11/10/8.1/8/7
Price: Pro version is priced at $19.95
Latest version: 17.8.0
Next on our list of low-level formatting tools is EaseUS Partition Master. It can help format any drive. It supports all file systems such as NTFS, FAT16 and 32, EXT2,3, and 4. Most features of EaseUS Partition Master are free to use.
Notable features:
- Format a RAW drive that is not recognized by Windows.
- Change file system from FAT32 to NTFS without losing data.
- Create a bootable hard drive format tool.
- Format a disk even when Windows can’t.
- Formats a disk when Windows is unable to.
- Perform other functions such as move, create, delete, wipe, and other tasks.
- Can’t migrate OS to SSD
4. DiskPart
Windows Compatibility: All Windows versions
Price: Free
Latest version: 10.0.22621.1
Next on our list is DiskPart. It is Windows’ inbuilt HDD low-level format tool. In fact, before trying out any other low-level format tool, you can give this utility a try. Yes, you will need to run some commands, but once you are through that, you will find that it is undoubtedly an effective tool.
Notable Features:
- Built into Windows OS.
- Low-level formatting supported.
- Dedicated commands for creating and formatting partitions and HDD.
- Support for virtual hard disks.
- Mark partition as active.
- Disk status and size can be seen.
- It could be a little complicated for beginner users.
5. Lowvel
Windows Compatibility: Windows 11/10/8.1/8/7
Price: Free
Latest version: Build 1997
Want to conduct a low-level format on a USB drive or any hard disk drive, for that matter? Lowvel is a popular tool. This tool overwrites data with zeros; in other words, it performs zero-filling. This implies that once the zeroing is done, no data recovery tool can recover data from the intended disk.
Notable Features:
- Mentions device model, capacity serial number, and connection type.
- It lets you know if a device can be completely erased or not.
- Detect and reallocate bad sectors
- It lets you know if you can lock the hard disk or not.
- Free and lightweight tool.
- Data once deleted with Lowvel cannot be recovered.
- Lacks some advanced features.
6. MiniTool Partition Wizard
Windows Compatibility: Windows 11, 10, 8.1, 8, and 7
Price: Trial, US$ 59
Latest version: 12.7
Primarily, MiniTool Partition Wizard is a partition management tool. That said, it can also serve as an HDD low-level format tool as well. It can also be used to measure read and write speed under several disk access cases, such as sequential and random.
Notable Features:
- Format inaccessible hard drives.
- Easily wipe off the disk and delete all partitions.
- Data backup and recovery.
- Create WinPE bootable media when required.
- Convert disks and partitions.
- Measure drive performance.
- Lacks support for dynamic disks.
7. AOMEI Partition Assistant
Windows Compatibility: Windows 11, 10, 8.1, 8, 7
Price: Pro version sells at $39.95/ year
Latest version: 9.15.0
Another partition management tool that can work well as an HDD low level format tool is AOMEI Partition Assistant. With this tool, you can easily organize and manage your hard disk and related partitions. It comes with a variety of features, some of which are mentioned below.
Notable Features:
- File shredder.
- Fix hard disk partition issues.
- Sector-wise data protection
- Easy HDD formatting.
- Facility to check disk read and write speed.
- Easily migrate OS.
- Conversion from dynamic to basic disk is not possible.
8. IM-Magic Partition Resizer
Windows Compatibility: Windows 11/10/8.1/8/7
Price: Free, professional version sells at $59
Latest version: 6.2
If you are looking to partition or even format your hard drive, another option that you can consider downloading is IM-Magic Partition resizer. It also comes with a unique roll-back functionality that can come to your rescue if your computer accidentally shuts down during resizing.
- The basic home edition is free and easy to use.
- Format, wipe, delete, and other tasks on both disks and partitions.
- Tutorial for every functionality.
- Available for all Windows versions.
- Dated interface.
9. Active@ Partition Manager
Windows Compatibility: Windows 11, 10, 8.1, 8, 7
Price: Free
Latest version: 23.0.0
When it comes to formatting a logical drive, Active@ Partition Manager does a decent job. It supports all popular file systems, and you needn’t shut down your computer to perform tasks. Most changes related to configuration take effect promptly.
Notable Features
- Low-level disk editing of drives and partitions.
- Scan files by signatures.
- Needn’t shut down the system to perform operations.
- Create partitions on a USB drive as well.
- Formatting a hard drive is simple.
- Edit and synchronize boot sectors of major file systems.
- Can’t change the size of locked volumes.
10. Acronis Disk Director
Windows Compatibility: Windows 11,10,8.1,8,7
Price: Premium version is available for $49.99
Latest version: 12.5
While not exactly a low level formatting tool for hard drives on your Windows PC, this partition management software can help format your drive with an appropriate file system such as FAT 16/32, NTFS, Ext2/3, Reiser 3, etc. If you accidentally deleted data, you can use file recovery software to restore it.
Notable Features:
- Disk cloning.
- Easy partition management.
- Split, resize, and convert volumes
- Create single, logical volume from unallocated spaces.
- Recover deleted partitions.
- Create bootable media.
- Heavy file size.
Wrapping Up
So, this wraps up our list of some of the hard drive disk format tools that can help you with low-level formatting and help you get back your hard drive to a position like it was when it came right off the factory. Let us know which is your preferred tool in the comments section below. For more such content, keep reading Top10PCSoftware.
Frequently Asked Questions-
Q1. What is HDD low-level format tool?
An HDD low-level format tool is a utility that helps format a hard drive so that the data within is recoverable as it replaces the storage with zero-state bits. The tools reset the content and the state of the hard disk to its factory or initial state.
Q2. What is low-level formatting?
It is a procedure of writing data directly onto the intended storage medium. It also bypasses the file system layer as well. It helps create new tracks and sectors, and it also determines where your data is stored on the disk.
Q3. How do I low-level format an entire drive?
You can either use DiskPart, which is Windows operating system’s inbuilt utility, or choose from some of the best HDD low level format tools, some of which can even perform low level formatting on USB drives as well.
Q4. What is the best formatting freeware?
HDD LLF is probably one of the best low level formatting tools for Windows 10 and other versions. Other formatting freeware includes Lowvel, Wondersoft Disk Storage Low-Level format, etc.
