How to format a flash drive on Xiaomi Redmi 9: the full guide

Smartphones line Xiaomi Redmi 9, despite its availability, have a powerful enough functionality to work with external drives. USB-flash drive through adapter OTG (On-The-Go greatly expands the capabilities of the device, allowing you to carry large volumes of photos, videos and documents. However, before the drive is available for writing and reading, it often needs to be brought to a compatible state.

The formatting process is a standard procedure that creates a new file system on the media. For owners of Android devices, this is especially true, since the standard Windows NTFS file system may not be supported by a phone without special drivers. Proper preparation of the drive ensures a stable data transfer rate and no errors when copying.

In this article, we will take a detailed look at all the steps in preparing external storage for use with your gadget. You will learn what type of file system to choose for maximum compatibility, how to avoid losing important data and what to do if the phone does not see the connected device. Formatting completely removes all data from the drive, so pre-backup is critical.

Equipment preparation and OTG compatibility check

The first step before any file system manipulation is to physically connect and check for hardware compatibility. The Redmi 9 features a USB Type-C port that supports OTG technology, but not all cables and adapters are of equal quality. To successfully connect, you will need a serviceable adapter or cable that can transmit not only data, but also sufficient current to power the flash drive.

Many users are faced with a situation where the phone is charging from the power bank, but does not see the connected flash drive. This is due to the fact that the external drive requires a stable voltage. If you use a cheap adapter, the phone may simply not identify the device, and the formatting button in the menu will be inactive. In such cases, it is recommended to try another adapter or check the performance of the flash drive on the computer.

You also need to pay attention to the amount of storage you can connect. MIUI (Xiaomi shell supports large amounts of memory, old or too energy-intensive SSD-Disk drives may require external power. Conventional flash cards up to 128 GB typically run without additional power sources.

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Use an original cable or a certified OTG adapter, as cheap counterparts often don’t have the necessary contacts to transfer data, working only on charging.

File system selection: FAT32, exFAT or NTFS

One of the most important steps is choosing the right file system format, which depends on where you can use the drive in the future and what files you can write to it. Android smartphones, including Redmi 9, have native support for certain formats, while others require third-party software.

This file system is free of the FAT32 limitations on the size of a single file (limit of 4 GB) and works well on both Windows and macOS and Android. If you plan to store high-resolution movies or heavy archives on a flash drive, this option should fall on this option.

File system FAT32 It's old, but it's as compatible as possible. It can be read by almost any device with a computer. USB-But if you try to burn a file larger than 4 GB onto a flash drive, the system will fail, even if there is tens of gigabytes of free space.

• 📁 ExFAT is the best choice for modern smartphones and large files, there is no limit of 4 GB.
• 💾 FAT32 — Maximum compatibility with older technology, but a limit on the size of a single file.
• 💻 NTFS — native Windows format, Redmi 9 can only work in read mode without root rights.

Step-by-step formatting instruction through smartphone settings

The safest and most recommended way to format is to use the built-in Android operating system, which eliminates the risk of human error and ensures that the phone correctly recognizes the partition structure. Before you start, make sure that the battery charge of the smartphone is at least 20% so that the device does not turn off at a critical moment.

After connecting the flash drive through OTG-cable, Redmi 9 should display a connection notification USB-If the notification doesn't pop up, pull the notification curtain down and find the corresponding icon. Often, the system immediately suggests formatting the disk if it detects an incompatible file system.

To manually start the process, you need to go to the settings menu. The path may vary slightly depending on the version of MIUI, but the logic remains the same. You need to find the storage section and select a particular device from the list of available drives.

The algorithm of actions in the settings menu is as follows:

1. Open the settings of your device.
2. Go to About Phone or immediately look for Warehouse (in some versions Memory).
3. In the list of available storage facilities, find your USB-A flash drive (usually signed as a flash drive) USB-storage-storage).
4. Click on the menu icon (three dots or gear) and select Storage Settings.
5. At the bottom of the screen, find the Format or Clear button. USB-accumulator.

⚠️ Attention: After pressing the confirmation button, the process of erasure of data will begin. Interrupting this process (disabling the flash drive or discharging the phone) can lead to irreversible damage to the drive controller.

Use the MIUI application to manage files

The MIUI shell has a powerful file manager preinstalled, which also allows you to manage external drives, which is convenient because it does not require deep immersion in system settings. When you open the Explorer app, you will immediately see the USB section at the top of the screen, if the drive is connected correctly.

The management interface is simplified here. By clicking on the flash drive icon, you will be taken to the file viewing menu. The formatting feature is often hidden in the upper right corner or side menu. However, in newer versions of MIUI, this option can be hidden, and the system will redirect you to the basic storage settings described in the previous section.

The advantage of using a built-in conductor is that you can quickly check the content before formatting, so you can visually make sure that you have copied all the files you need, and then initiate a cleanup, which reduces the risk of accidental deletion of important documents.

Solving common problems and errors

Despite the simplicity of the procedure, users of Xiaomi Redmi 9 can face technical difficulties, most often the problem is not in the software, but in the physical contact or state of the drive itself.

If the phone is giving a message «USB-The drive is corrupted" or "Formatting required," but the process ends in an error, which may indicate logical errors in the file system. In some cases, formatting on a computer and then repeating the procedure on the phone helps.

And it's also worth mentioning overheating. When you're actively writing or reading big data, the flash drive and the port of the phone can get hot. It's normal, but if the heat is critical, it's better to stop. The memory controller is sensitive to temperatures, and overheating can shorten the life of the device.

⚠️ Note: If the flash drive is defined as a 0-byte device or with the wrong name, the memory controller is likely to physically fail.

Alternative methods through the computer

If a smartphone refuses to format the drive on its own, a personal computer will come to the rescue, which gives you more control over the process and allows you to choose a specific cluster size, which can be important for some specific tasks.

For formatting in Windows, you need to plug a flash drive into your PC, right-click on the disk icon in My Computer, and select Format. In the window that opens, you need to select the exFAT file system and uncheck the Quick Format box if you want to do a deep sector check for errors.

diskpart


list disk




select disk X (where X is your flash drive number)




clean




create partition primary




format fs=exfat quick




assign




exit

Using the command line through the diskpart utility is a more radical but effective method: this command completely cleans the partition table, which helps in cases where standard formatting does not work. Be extremely careful when choosing a disk number, so as not to erase data from the computer's hard drive.

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Formatting on a computer with a choice of exFAT file system often solves compatibility problems that cannot be eliminated by the smartphone itself.