[vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]Formatting an Micro SD card is likely the fastest way to rid it of all the files stored on it. While Windows and Mac users have a simple way to format memory cards via the right-click context menu, you may be wondering how to accomplish this in Ubuntu as Ubuntu contains no obvious way to format and manage memory cards. Format an Micro SD card in Ubuntu using the built-in MKDOSFS command.

[/vc_column_text][vc_tour][vc_tab title=”Step 1:” tab_id=”1398567862-1-29″][vc_column_text]Insert the Micro SD card into your card reader and allow it to be recognized and mounted by Ubuntu.[/vc_column_text][/vc_tab][vc_tab title=”Step 2:” tab_id=”1398567862-2-5″][vc_column_text]Click the “Applications” menu at the top of the screen, then click “Accessories” and “Terminal” to open the command prompt.[/vc_column_text][/vc_tab][vc_tab title=”Step 3:” tab_id=”1398569377113-2-4″][vc_column_text]Type “df” and press “Enter.” This displays a list of every storage device currently in use by the computer. Locate the device name of your Micro SD card. It will be similar to “/dev/mmcblk0p1.”

root@ubuntu:~# df
Filesystem     1K-blocks    Used Available Use% Mounted on
/dev/nandd       3751376 2524080   1043000  71% /
none              447700       4    447696   1% /dev
none              448520     276    448244   1% /tmp
none               89704     216     89488   1% /run
none              448520      36    448484   1% /var/tmp
none              448520     612    447908   1% /var/log
none                5120       0      5120   0% /run/lock
none              448520       0    448520   0% /run/shm
/dev/mmcblk0p1   7160232       8   7160224   1% /media/0000-006F

[/vc_column_text][/vc_tab][vc_tab title=”Step 4:” tab_id=”1398569379881-3-5″][vc_column_text]Type “umount” followed by the device name that you found in Step 1. For example, the completed command might be “umount /dev/mmcblk0p1 .” Press “Enter” after typing the command. This command unmounts the Micro SD card from the system.

Tips: Don’t type “unmount” instead .

root@ubuntu:~# umount /dev/mmcblk0p1

[/vc_column_text][/vc_tab][vc_tab title=”Step 5:” tab_id=”1398569381122-4-7″][vc_column_text]Type “mkdosfs -F 32 -v (device name)” and press “Enter.” For example, the completed command might be “mkdosfs -F 32 -v /dev/mmcbok0p1.” The “-F 32” portion of the command formats the SD card using the FAT32 file system. Leave this part out if you would rather format the card using FAT16. The “-v” portion of the command gives a verbose (full) summary of the operation.

root@ubuntu:~# mkdosfs -F 32 -v /dev/mmcblk0p1 
mkdosfs 3.0.12 (29 Oct 2011)
/dev/mmcblk0p1 has 4 heads and 16 sectors per track,
logical sector size is 512,
using 0xf8 media descriptor, with 14348499 sectors;
file system has 2 32-bit FATs and 8 sectors per cluster.
FAT size is 13992 sectors, and provides 1790060 clusters.
There are 32 reserved sectors.
Volume ID is 2ef40573, no volume label.

[/vc_column_text][/vc_tab][vc_tab title=”Step 6:” tab_id=”1398569382253-5-10″][vc_column_text]Remove and reconnect the Micro SD card to remount it when the operation is complete.

root@ubuntu:~# df
Filesystem     1K-blocks    Used Available Use% Mounted on
/dev/nandd       3751376 2524080   1043000  71% /
none              447700       4    447696   1% /dev
none              448520     276    448244   1% /tmp
none               89704     216     89488   1% /run
none              448520      36    448484   1% /var/tmp
none              448520     616    447904   1% /var/log
none                5120       0      5120   0% /run/lock
none              448520       0    448520   0% /run/shm
/dev/mmcblk0p1   7160240       4   7160236   1% /media/2EF4-0573

[/vc_column_text][/vc_tab][/vc_tour][/vc_column][/vc_row]