How to Unlock Write Protected USB

1 Pull the USB flash drive out of your computer’s USB port. Check the bottom end and sides of the drive to see if it has a write protection switch. Push the plastic switch into the “Unlock” position.

2 Insert the USB flash drive back into the USB port. Close the pop-up window that appears and navigate to the Start menu. Select “My Computer.”

3 Locate the drive letter that corresponds to your USB flash drive in the “My Computer” window, such as “F:” or “D:.” Double-click the drive letter. Attempt to use one of the files on the drive. Right-click one of the files if you still receive a write protection error and select “Properties.”

4 Navigate to the “General” tab and remove the check mark from the box labeled “Read-Only.” Click “Apply” and then attempt to use the file.

5 Return to the Start menu and click “Run.” Type “Regedit” and press “Enter.” Navigate to the registry folder “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetControlStorageDevicePolicies.”

6 Check if there is an entry at the right side of the window labeled “Write Protect”. If the entry is not there Right-click inside the window and choose “New D Word.” Type “Write Protect” and press “Enter.”

7 Double-click the “Write Protect” entry. Check that the value listed in the text box is “0.” If it is not, delete the value and replace it with “0.”

8 Close the registry editor and attempt to use any of the files on the USB drive. Return to the “My Computer” window if you continue to receive a write protection error message.

9 Right-click the drive letter for the USB flash drive and choose “Format.” Click the drop-down menu named “File System” and select “Fat32.”

10 Click “Start” to format the USB flash drive and remove the write-protection feature.