Published: 2025 • Windows Tips • USB Security

How to Check and Enable/Disable USB Write Protection in Windows (2025 Guide)

Is your USB flash drive or memory card showing a “Write-Protected” error? In this guide, you’ll learn how to check, enable, or disable USB write protection in Windows 10, 11, and 8.1 using simple and reliable methods.

🔍 What Is USB Write Protection?

Write protection is a feature that prevents changes to files stored on a USB drive. It ensures your data cannot be deleted, modified, or formatted accidentally. You can turn this feature on or off depending on your security needs.

• Enabled: USB is read-only — files can be viewed but not modified.
• Disabled: Full read/write access — you can copy, delete, or format files.

🧭 How to Check if a USB Drive Is Write-Protected

Before making changes, verify if the drive is indeed write-protected:

1. Try copying or deleting a file: If Windows displays “The disk is write-protected”, it’s locked.
2. Use DiskPart to check:

   diskpart
   list disk
   select disk X   <-- Replace X with your USB drive number
   attributes disk

   Look for Current Read-only State : Yes or Read-only : Yes. If either is Yes, write protection is enabled.

3. Check Group Policy settings: System policies might restrict removable storage access.

⚙️ Method 1: Physical Lock Switch

Some USB drives and SD card adapters have a LOCK/UNLOCK switch. Move it to the UNLOCK position to disable protection or to LOCK to enable it. Reinsert your device and test it again.

💻 Method 2: Registry Editor

1. Press Win + R → type regedit → press Enter.
2. Go to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control
3. If missing, create a new key named StorageDevicePolicies.
4. Inside it, create a DWORD (32-bit) value named WriteProtect.
5. Set value to 1 = Enable protection, or 0 = Disable.
6. Restart Windows for changes to take effect.

🧠 Method 3: Command Prompt (DiskPart)

Use the DiskPart utility for direct control over USB attributes.

diskpart
list disk
select disk X        <-- Replace X with your USB drive number
attributes disk set readonly      <-- Enable write protection
attributes disk clear readonly    <-- Disable write protection
exit

🪣 Method 4: Group Policy Editor (Windows Pro/Enterprise)

1. Press Win + R, type gpedit.msc, and press Enter.
2. Navigate to:
   Computer Configuration → Administrative Templates → System → Removable Storage Access
3. Double-click Removable Disks: Deny write access.
4. Select Enabled to block writes, or Disabled/Not Configured to allow them.
5. Click Apply → OK.

🧰 Bonus Tip: Third-Party Tools

If you prefer an easier interface, try these trusted tools:

• USB Write Protect Utility – NirSoft
• EaseUS Partition Master – Manage partitions and unlock drives
• HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool – Reformat and clear protection

✅ Summary

Step	Method	Action
1	Check via DiskPart	Confirm if USB is write-protected
2	Physical switch	Enable or disable manually
3	Registry Editor	Software-based protection
4	DiskPart	Command-line control
5	Group Policy	System-wide settings