How to remove read only files from flash drive

If you are looking for a way to change drive from read-only to read and write again, follow the fixes as presented below:. To get rid of the drive is read-only error from your SD card, USB, or hard disks, you should first understand: 1. What is the "drive read-only" error? What causes the drive read-only? Being similar to the write protection error, "Drive is read-only" is a permission error that users can only read or copy saved data on a storage device, but not allowed to write new information or edit the saved data.

The "Read-only" state could be on a single file, a folder, or even an entire disk like a memory card, USB flash drive, pen drive, hard disk drive, solid-state drive, and external HDD. According, the causes of this error are various.

Here we collect the most reasons that may lead to a storage device read-only:. If it's an SD card or USB flash drive showing read-only, first you can check the lock switch is on or not.

Like the below picture demonstrates:. For hard disks and other types of memory cards and flash drives, the following troubleshooting will show you how to remove the error and make your device readable and writeable again:.

You can follow the guide step by step to open and make full use of the read-only drives without any obstacles. Using a Mac computer? Go to how to fix the external hard drive read-only on Mac for help. Sometimes, when you log in to computer with another user account, but not as the administrator, you may have a problem in gaining permission to read and write on storage devices.

So, if you are having a read-only state drive on your computer, you can first try to log in as an administrator first. Step 2. Select the other visible account on the list, click to switch to Administrator.

After this, you can try to open the drive which was with a read-only state and check if you can write to the drive. If yes, congratulations. If not, don't worry.

Try the other four presented fixes, one can help you out. In some cases, USB drive comes with a physical write-protection switch on the side or bottom. This switch is used to keep the contents on your drive safe from malware or modification by others.

If your USB has this switch, move it to the "unlock" position, which will turn off the USB drive's write protection and enable you to store files and data on the USB drive again. If your USB drives do not have a lock switch, you can use Diskpart to clear its read only attribute in the following steps. Step 1. Step 2. Step 3. Here we select disk 2. Follow the guide to recover files from USB drive easily. Generally rated 4. Read-Only Flash Drive?

Reading on, you can get to know the 4 Windows solutions and 2 Mac solutions about how to remove write protection from USB flash drive. Download Win Download Mac. Sue Wayne. Hello all, I got a message reading " The disk is write-protected " whenever I inserted my SanDisk pen drive to my computer.

I was unable to disable the write protection on my flash drive. Can anyone help me? Step 1. Connect your flash drive to the computer, and launch a command prompt by searching for cmd. Step 2. Step 3. Exit the Command Prompt.

Double click the WriteProtect value in the right pane. Step 4. You can change the value data from 1 to 0, then click OK to save the change, and close the Regedit window.

Step 5. Restart your computer and connect the USB drive to it. Learn more 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. 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'. Log in Social login does not work in incognito and private browsers. Please log in with your username or email to continue. No account yet? Create an account. Edit this Article. We use cookies to make wikiHow great. By using our site, you agree to our cookie policy. Cookie Settings. Learn why people trust wikiHow. Download Article Explore this Article methods.

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