how to completely wipe usb drive on Windows 11 or Windows 10 PC?

To completely wipe usb drive on Windows 11 or Windows 10 PC. The first thing to know is that a full format takes significantly longer than a quick format. While a quick format can be done in seconds (or even milliseconds if it's a small drive), a full format can take several minutes or even hours, depending on the USB drive size and speed. So, if you’re in a rush to wipe it and use it again, you might be left waiting around.

Every time you read or write data to a USB drive, it’s wearing it down just a little bit. A full format, which involves writing zeros across the entire drive, can accelerate this wear. If you find yourself doing this too often, it could shorten the lifespan of your USB drive over time. My cousin had a nice USB that he overused for wiping and formatting, and eventually, it just gave up the ghost.

Once you’ve done a full format, you’ve committed. If you intended to back something up afterward or change your approach, it’s a bit more complicated to go back. You can't just re-read that initial data like you could with a quick format since it’s been obliterated with zeros. It’s like hitting the delete button on a note without backing it up first!