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<revision pkgversion="3.4.0" date="2012-02-19" status="review"/>
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<revision pkgversion="3.13.91" date="2014-09-05" status="review"/>
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<desc>Remove all of the files and folders from an external hard disk or USB
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flash drive by formatting it.</desc>
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of the files on the disk and leaves it empty.</p>
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<title>Format a removable disk</title>
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<title>Format a removable disk</title>
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<p>Open the <app>Disks</app> application from the <gui>Activities</gui>
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<p>Open <app>Disks</app> from the <gui>Activities</gui> overview.</p>
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<p>Select the disk you want to wipe from the <gui>Storage Devices</gui> list.</p>
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<p>Select the disk you want to wipe from the list of storage devices on the
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<note style="warning">
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<p>Make sure that you have selected the correct disk! If you choose the wrong
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disk, all of the files on the other disk will be deleted!</p>
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<p>In the Volumes section, click <gui>Unmount Volume</gui>. Then click
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<gui>Format Volume</gui>.</p>
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<p>In the window that pops up, choose a filesystem <gui>Type</gui> for the
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<note style="warning">
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<p>Make sure that you have selected the correct disk! If you choose the
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wrong disk, all of the files on the other disk will be deleted!</p>
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<p>In the toolbar underneath the <gui>Volumes</gui> section, click the
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gear icon. Then click <gui>Format…</gui>.</p>
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<p>In the window that pops up, choose a file system <gui>Type</gui> for the
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<p>If you use the disk on Windows and Mac OS computers in addition to Linux
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computers, choose <gui>FAT</gui>. If you only use it on Windows, <gui>NTFS</gui>
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may be a better option. A brief description of the <gui>file system type</gui>
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will be presented as a label.</p>
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<p>Give the disk a name and click <gui>Format</gui> to begin wiping the disk.</p>
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<p>Give the disk a name and click <gui>Format…</gui> to continue and show a
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confirmation window. Check the details carefully, and click
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<gui>Format</gui> to wipe the disk.</p>
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<p>Once the formatting has finished, <gui>safely remove</gui> the disk. It
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should now be blank and ready to use again.</p>
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<p>Once the formatting has finished, click the eject icon to safely remove
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the disk. It should now be blank and ready to use again.</p>