How can I format an SSD to ReFS on Windows 11?

To use the Insider Setup interface to format an SSD to ReFS on Windows 11? Here's the casual lowdown on how that works.

First, you need to be on a recent Windows Insider build (like Canary build 27823 or later). During a clean installation—when you're booting from a USB or ISO and get to the "Select location to install Windows" screen—the interface now gives you a choice. There's a new "Flexible Storage" option that lets you pick between the default NTFS and the new ReFS format. So if you want to format SSD to ReFS on Windows 11 using the setup UI, that's the official, hidden-button way to do it.

However, there's a catch. Even with the latest Insider builds, that setup screen method for formatting SSD to ReFS on Windows 11 can be a bit finicky and isn't perfectly polished. If you don't see the "Flexible Storage" option, you can always use the command-line trick: hit Shift+F10 during setup to open Command Prompt, then use Diskpart to manually select your partition and run format fs=refs quick.

Just remember, booting directly from a ReFS drive isn't officially supported yet, so you might hit some weirdness. If you absolutely need to know how to format SSD to ReFS on Windows 11, these Insider methods will get you there, but it's still very much a testing feature.