How to Format Recovery Partition
Most computer users don’t like to open the computer case, but the recovery partition of Windows 10/8/7 (like what is on my ASUS laptop) does need an occasional format. This action will remove all data that you have saved earlier on it, so this is something that you should think twice before doing. Formatting recovery partition using diskpart will help you get it done.
Diskpart is a built-in Windows command line utility that can be used to perform all kind of disk related tasks. It’s an effective way to solve the issues such as recover files from formatted drive, etc. This tutorial shows how to format recovery partition under Windows 10/8/7 with Diskpart.
Format Recovery Partition with Diskpart Command
1. Type CMD in the search box and hit Enter . It will open a command prompt window.
2. Next, type diskpart and press Enter .
3. Diskpart utility will start now, and it will show a prompt as below: DISKPART>
4. Type list volume and press Enter to see all volumes of current computer. As you can see, the recovery partition is listed here with E: as label (E: is no longer healthy Volume Label). You may notice that the actual drive letter of recovery partition can be different based on your computer.
5. Type select volume 3 and press Enter to select the Recovery Partition (highlighted with E:) and type assign letter=R: and press Enter . Here we set R: as label for this volume, so you can more easily identify it in Disk Management or Windows Explorer.
6. Now type exit and press Enter to close the command line utility. This recovery partition has been assigned a new drive letter now, so you can open it in File Explorer directly from now on.
Format Recovery Partition with Computer Management Utility
This method is for advanced users. It requires command line code. If you are not familiar with the command line, please do not try this solution. We have another article to show easier way to format Recovery Partition. You can also download free software to format Recovery Partition in Windows 8/8.1/10 without using any commands.
Follow these steps:
1. Type “cmd” in the search box of Windows Start menu and press Enter key. A command prompt will pop up as shown below:
2. In the newly opened command prompt window, type diskpart and press Enter key on your keyboard. A new tool called DiskPart has been opened as shown below:
3. At this moment, we need to check the letters assigned to the Recovery Partition on an external hard drive or USB flash drive . It is needed if we want to delete Recovery Partition from such a storage device by using Command Prompt (diskpart). Please type list volume and press Enter key here as shown below:
4. As you can see from the screen shot above, there are two partitions displayed. One is System Reserved (bootcamp) and the other one is our Recovery Partition . They are assigned with different drive letters . The drive letter of the bootcamp partition is C: while that for our Windows 8/8.1 or 10 Recovery Partition is typically D:
5. Type exit to leave DiskPart utility and close Command Prompt window as shown below:
The next step would be formatting Recovery Partition on an external hard drive or USB flash drive with a right click at the disk in Computer Management Utility.
6. In Computer Management, please press “Ctrl+M” keys on your keyboard to expand “Storage” branch as shown below:
7. Then you will see a list of disks on your computer. Please select the disk that you wish to format (in this example, it is Disk 2). Then please right click at the disk and choose “New Simple Volume” option.
8. In a new window for New Simple Volume Wizard, please press Next button as shown below:
9. In a next pop up window, formatting options are available for you to choose from as shown below:
Please make sure that all volume label fields are blank. If they are not blank, please type “blank” in each field. When all fields are blank, please press Next button as shown above again to continue the process of Windows 8/8.1/10 Recovery Partition Formatting by using Command Prompt or free software.
10. Now, please enter the volume size (in this example, it is 60000 MB or 6 GB). Then press Next to continue.
11. Formatting Windows 8/8.1/10 Recovery Partition will begin after clicking on Finish button in a last step of formatting wizard. After formatting has finished successfully, please restart your computer for changes to take effect and then you can use formatted Recovery Partition normally like any other hard disks on your computer.
Can I format a recovery partition?
A recover partition can be formatted just like a normal partition by going to the start menu and typing diskpart, then opening Disk Partition. Then you can right click on your recovery partition and format it. When you’re done there, just type exit to leave Disk Partition.
The recovery partition is the special partition which is assigned for system recovery. If your Windows can’t boot or can’t load files normally, you can repair it using the recovery partition. When you format recovery partition, for most cases, you lose all data in it.
So if you want to use formatted Recovery Partition instead of original one for system recovery, please do not format it unless necessary.
How do I erase a recovery partition?
You cannot use Windows Disk Management to erase recovery partition. If you want to erase recovery partition, please format it instead of erasing it directly.
That means if you want to use formatted Recovery Partition for system recovery, please do not initializing or erasing it without necessary.
When should I delete the recovery partition?
You should delete the partition when you don’t need it any more or you need to increase the size of other partitions on your computer. Deleting recovery partition will free disk space to use for other partitions.
If your computer comes with a preinstalled operating system and you can see 2 partitions on your hard disk: one is system reserved and the other is the C drive which has same size as original C drive and hidden attribute, then don’t worry about deleting recovery partition.
It seems that Lenovo releases new computers every year with different hardware comparison but same software configuration including hidden recovery partition.
You don’t need to delete it unless you want to increase the space of C drive. If your computer is not like Lenovo, please check whether you can see recovery partition on your own hard disk or not by pressing right click at the disk in Computer Management (opened by Windows Key + R) and select “Manage”. If it doesn’t show up, you don’t need any operation for it.
How do I delete recovery partition?
There are two methods for deleting recovery partitions: use free software to delete recovery partition and format recovery partition using Command Prompt.
But manually initialize/erase Recovery Partition without formatting is too risky so never try that unless necessary. Under normal circumstances, it would be better if you can delete recovery partition through CCleaner which makes sure that all data are erased completely.
How do I get Recovery Partition back after deleting it?
You cannot recover deleted recovery partition unless you have created a system image using free backup software or paid data recovery software. Please note that you should never use the same hard disk for Windows 8/8.1/10 installation and creating system images or else it will cause serious problems to your computer.
One solution is to clone current C drive to an external hard disk so that cloned C drive can be used as other disks on your computer except newly installed one which has not been initialized yet. If you only want to get back lost files from formatted Recovery Partition, please try Data Recovery Pro.
Conclusion
Formatting your Recovery Partition will safeguard you from data loss in the future. If your Windows cannot boot or load files normally, formatting of the recovery partition ensures that it is not necessary to reinstall Windows again.
Formatting also creates a new system where all errors are corrected and eventually eliminated. The more often you format this partition, the faster performance on your computer will be as well because there are less fragments on it. With these benefits, do not wait any longer before formatting your Recovery Partition today!
