mkfs.ntfs

creates an NTFS filesystem on a device or file

TLDR

Create an NTFS filesystem inside partition Y on device X

$ sudo mkfs.ntfs [/dev/sdXY]

Create an NTFS filesystem with a volume label

$ sudo mkfs.ntfs -L [volume_label] [/dev/sdXY]

Create an NTFS filesystem with a specific UUID

$ sudo mkfs.ntfs -U [/dev/sdXY]

Perform a quick format (skip zeroing and bad sector check)

$ sudo mkfs.ntfs -f [/dev/sdXY]

Enable compression on the filesystem

$ sudo mkfs.ntfs -C [/dev/sdXY]

Simulate formatting without writing to device

$ sudo mkfs.ntfs -n [/dev/sdXY]

SYNOPSIS

mkfs.ntfs [-f|-Q] [-c cluster-size] [-L label] [-C] [-U] [-n] [-q|-v] device [number-of-sectors]

mkfs.ntfs (also known as mkntfs) creates an NTFS filesystem on a device or file. NTFS is the primary filesystem used by Windows NT and later versions, supporting features like file permissions, compression, encryption, and large volumes.
The utility automatically determines filesystem size if sector count is omitted. It creates the Master File Table (MFT), system files, and directory structures required by NTFS. The tool is part of the ntfs-3g package.

PARAMETERS

-f, -Q, --fast, --quick

Perform quick format; skips zeroing volume and bad sector checking

-L, --label _string_

Set volume label for the filesystem

-C, --enable-compression

Enable filesystem-level compression

-U, --with-uuid

Generate random volume UUID

-c, --cluster-size _bytes_

Set cluster size from 256 to 2,097,152 bytes; default is 4096

-s, --sector-size _bytes_

Set sector size: 256, 512, 1024, 2048, or 4096 bytes

-p, --partition-start _sector_

Specify partition start sector

-H, --heads _num_

Number of heads; required for Windows boot capability

-S, --sectors-per-track _num_

Sectors per track; required for Windows boot capability

-z, --mft-zone-multiplier _num_

MFT zone size multiplier (1-4); affects fragmentation behavior

-I, --no-indexing

Disable content indexing on the volume

-n, --no-action

Simulate formatting without writing changes

-q, --quiet

Suppress non-error output

-v, --verbose

Enable verbose output

CAVEATS

Windows chkdsk may report uppercase filename warnings due to Unicode version differences between Windows editions and mkntfs. For bootable Windows partitions, the -H and -S options must be set correctly. NTFS write support on Linux requires ntfs-3g driver.

HISTORY

NTFS was developed by Microsoft and introduced with Windows NT 3.1 in 1993. It replaced FAT as the primary filesystem for Windows. The Linux ntfs-3g driver and mkfs.ntfs utility were developed by the NTFS-3G project, providing reliable read/write access to NTFS volumes from Linux systems.