For security purpose, the USB drives we use can be set to allow or deny read and write attributes, according to our needs. Sometimes third-party software we use on our Windows operating systems can also change these attributes without our notice. As a results of which we may came around ‘The disk is write protected’ error. If any program you use have denied write permissions to your USB drive, you can’t perform any of the write operations such as formatting the drive, moving/creating new content to it etc.

When you try to format a such USB drive, the The disk is write protected message appears:

 FIX The Disk Is Write Protected Error For USB Drives In Windows 10

While sending files to the USB drive, the action is interrupted with same message and you’re asked to remove the write protection or use another disk:

 FIX The Disk Is Write Protected Error For USB Drives In Windows 10

This might draw you into frustration. Some of you may go ahead with another USB drive and if that works, you’ll term the drive on which you’re facing issue as ‘malfunctioned‘. But there are still some hope and that is to remove write protection. It is quite easy to remove write protection of a removable drive so that can be used as earlier. Here’s how:

FIX : The Disk Is Write Protected Error For USB Drives In Windows 10/8.1/8/7

FIX 1 – Using Command Prompt

1. Right click Start Button and select Command Prompt (Admin).

 FIX The Disk Is Write Protected Error For USB Drives In Windows 10

2. In administrative Command Prompt, type these commands (mentioned in bold) one-by-one and press Enter key after each:

diskpart
list disk
select disk #                 Replace # with your USB disk number (judge by its volume)
attributes disk clear readonly

 FIX The Disk Is Write Protected Error For USB Drives In Windows 10

3. Close Command Prompt window and open File Explorer to check USB drive. The write protected message should no longer appear now.

FIX 2 – Using Registry Editor

Registry Disclaimer: The further steps will involve registry manipulation. Making mistakes while manipulating registry could affect your system adversely. So be careful while editing registry entries and create a System Restore point first.

1. Press W8K + R and put regedit in Run dialog box to open Registry Editor (if you’re not familiar with Registry Editor, then click here). Click OK.

Windows 10 Registry Editor

2. In the Registry Editor window, navigate to following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\RemovableStorageDevices\{53f5630d-b6bf-11d0-94f2-00a0c91efb8b}

 FIX The Disk Is Write Protected Error For USB Drives In Windows 10

3. In the right pane of {53f5630d-b6bf-11d0-94f2-00a0c91efb8b} key, look for the registry DWORD (REG_DWORD) named Deny_Write which should be corresponding to Value 1 as its Data. Double click on the DWORD to modify its value:

 FIX The Disk Is Write Protected Error For USB Drives In Windows 10

4. Set the Value data to 0 and click OK. Close Registry Editor and reboot. After restarting your machine, you will be able to perform write operations on USB drive.

Hope something helps! See this fix if your USB drives are not detected/recognized in Windows 10.

17 Comments

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  • Peekofwar

    Command prompt said that the attempt was successful, but it’s still write protected! I followed the registry steps, but only got as far as “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows” and couldn’t find “RemovableStorageDevices” in the list.

  • Kapil Arya

    ^^ You need to create the key manually.

  • Peekofwar

    Does DWORD need to be 32x or 64x? I have two options.

  • Peekofwar

    I used 32x version because that is what was on the images.

  • Kapil Arya

    ^^ Go ahead with 32-bit.

  • Peekofwar

    Something may be wrong with my drive. I can’t use it, even after the registry key was created.

  • Kapil Arya

    ^^ Is the drive working on another computer? If it doesn’t works on another machine as well, the drive might be malfunctioned permanently.

  • Peekofwar

    I believe that the drive is damaged internally somehow… even though dropping it wouldn’t do much as it is a small and light object.

  • Peekofwar

    Thanks for your help though.

  • Prachi Bansal

    this worked perfectly Kapil, thank you so much!

  • Kapil Arya

    ^^ Thanks for feedback!

  • Anil

    both fixes dont work. Whats next?

  • Kapil Arya

    ^^ Check the USB drive with another system. See if it works.

  • NILESH KUMAR

    I have followed all steps, created the DWORD and restarted my machine, but still I am not able to delete files from the pen drive.

  • Kapil Arya

    ^^ In that case, you may try checking the USB drive to other device.

  • Claus Agerskov

    Couldn’t it be protected by the hardware to be read-only (write protected).

  • Kapil Arya

    ^^ If it protected by hardware somehow, usually the drive is malfunctioned then.

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