Clearing Partitions from SD Cards or Flash Drives

If you have written a disk image or ChromeOS Recovery image to a USB Flash Drive or MicroSD/SD Card and wish to re-use the USB Flash Drive or External Media Device to store generic files, you will need to perform the following steps to erase the disk. This process will not only clear the external media device but will remove all partitions from the device. 

Before you begin, you will have to install the ChromeOS Recovery Tool from the Chrome Web Store. This is a free Chrome Extension. 

1) Launch the ChromeOS Recovery Tool and select the settings cog in the upper right of the screen.

2) Select "Erase recovery media" and select the image file using the Chrome File Manager

3) Select the USB Flash Drive, MicroSD Card or Full Sized SD Card from the media drop down. Please note that this will show any external media device you have connected to your ChromeOS Device, so please take a moment to ensure you are selecting the correct device.

4) Select "Erase Now" on the final confirmation screen

5) The process to clear your disk will take a few seconds to complete. This will leave your external media device with a blank file system. You will need to open the ChromeOS File Manager to perform a initial format on the drive before you can begin using the drive to store media.