How to Remove Write Protection from Pen Drive

This is how you remove the write protection from your pen drive

5 min. read

Updated onOctober 4, 2023

updated onOctober 4, 2023

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You may encounter a prompt that saysthis disk is write-protectedwhen you attempt to modify the contents of a pen drive. This can be frustrating as you are prohibited from writing, deleting, or changing any data on the pen drive.

You may initially think that thepen drive is no longer usable, but surprisingly, it is possible to remove the write protection from your pen drive. Let’s find out how.

Why is my pen drive write-protected?

Generally, Pen drives or USBs are write-protected to prevent someone from copying or modifying the files. However, there can be other reasons as well that you should take into account:

So, if you’re struggling to access a write-protected pen drive, you should know that there are several methods to remove write protection from your pen drive or USB. This guide lists the most effective ones and explains the step-by-step procedure.

How do I remove write protection from the pen drive?

Before employing the software-related workaround listed below, make sure to perform the following:

If these simple actions could not remove the write protection from your pen drive, move on to the workarounds listed below.

1. Change pen drive properties

Once you’ve changed the read-write properties of the pen drive, it will no longer be write-protected, and you should be able to save, delete, and modify files on the pen drive as needed.

2. Remove read-only attributes using Command Prompt

When the disk attributes are cleared successfully, exit the command prompt window. The attribute command in Windows Command Prompt can remove read-only attributes from files or directories.

3. Modify the registry to disable write protection

Now reconnect your pen drive, and you will see that the write protection is eliminated.

If you don’t see the StorageDevicePolicies folder in Registry, you can create one and then follow the stepsabove.

4. Disable BitLocker using Windows PowerShell

The decryption process can take several moments, depending on the contents of the pen drive. Once the process is complete, your pen drive will no longer be write-protected.

So that’s how easy it is to remove write protection from a pen drive and perform the write operation as required.

We also recommend reading another guide torepair a Kingston Flash Driveif it has become corrupt.

Let us know in the comments if any of these methods were successful in removing the write-protected limitation from your pen drive.

How to Remove Write Protection from Pen Drive#

Why is my pen drive write-protected?#

How do I remove write protection from the pen drive?#

1. Change pen drive properties#

2. Remove read-only attributes using Command Prompt#

3. Modify the registry to disable write protection#

4. Disable BitLocker using Windows PowerShell#