Formatting disks in Linux command line
Commands necessary to delete partitions, wipe a disk completely and install a new filesystem.
For more details see this answer on AskUbuntu by Mateen Ulhaq
List mounted disks
lsblk
NAME MAJ:MIN RM SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINTS
sda 8:0 0 111.8G 0 disk
├─sda1 8:1 0 512M 0 part /boot/efi
├─sda2 8:2 0 110.3G 0 part /
└─sda3 8:3 0 976M 0 part [SWAP]
sdb 8:16 1 7.2G 0 disk
└─sdb1 8:17 1 7.2G 0 part
Unmount the disk to re-format
sudo umount /dev/sdb
Use fdisk utility
sudo fdisk /dev/sdb
Commands to use
p # List partitions
d # Delete partition
# repeat p to list d to delete multiple partitions
n # Create new partition. Physical, accept defaults for size, etc.
t # Change type - for USB drives use option b (vfat) or c (bigger USB sticks)
w # Write changes & quit fdisk
Disk is now formatted with one new VFat partition. Now create filesystem:
sudo mkfs -t vfat /dev/sdb1
All fdisk commands
GPT
M enter protective/hybrid MBR
Generic
d delete a partition
F list free unpartitioned space
l list known partition types
n add a new partition
p print the partition table
t change a partition type
v verify the partition table
i print information about a partition
Misc
m print this menu
x extra functionality (experts only)
Script
I load disk layout from sfdisk script file
O dump disk layout to sfdisk script file
Save & Exit
w write table to disk and exit
q quit without saving changes
Create a new label
g create a new empty GPT partition table
G create a new empty SGI (IRIX) partition table
o create a new empty MBR (DOS) partition table
s create a new empty Sun partition table