The BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) or UEFI is designed to configure hardware settings and boot order, not to manage file systems or wipe data.
The correct workflow for formatting an HDD involves bypassing the BIOS’s limitations. After configuring the BIOS to boot from a USB drive or optical disc, the user launches an operating system installer—such as Windows Setup, a Linux live environment, or macOS Recovery. These environments load a minimal OS into RAM, complete with partitioning and formatting tools. It is within this installer that the user selects the target HDD, deletes old partitions, creates new ones, and chooses a file system. The BIOS merely hands off control; the formatting is executed by the OS kernel. how to format hdd in bios
However, there is a workaround. By changing settings in the BIOS, you can boot into a tool that does allow you to format the drive. In this guide, we will show you exactly how to do that, along with a few alternative methods. The BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) or UEFI is