Ubuntu – How to format a SD card easily in KDE

disk-formattingkde4sd cardusb-drive

First I want to clarify that I know how to format an SD card with programs like KDE Partition Manager or GParted.

What I am really looking for is an easy way to do that, such as right-clicking in Dolphin on my SD Card or USB pendrive and selecting format drive.

I think I just can't figure out an easy way. Think about a way you would tell a non-sudo user how to format his SD card.

In Cinnamon, the USB pendrive can be right-clicked and formatted directly from the file manager (Nemo). Is something similar available in Dolphin?

Best Answer

I wasn't able to find a one-click solution for what you want, but I think that the USB Formatter [mintstick] service menu for Dolphin might be close to it.

  1. To add the service menu to Dolphin's right-click menu you first have to install mintstick. Download and install its latest version (1.4.4) in your Downloads directory using the following command:

    wget -O ~/Downloads/mintstick_1.4.4_all.deb http://packages.linuxmint.com/pool/main/m/mintstick/mintstick_1.4.4_all.deb

  2. Install it using:

    sudo apt install ~/Downloads/mintstick_1.4.4_all.deb

  3. Download the USB Formatter [mintstick] .desktop file from here.

  4. Supposing that you have saved the file in your Downloads directory, copy the file in ~/.local/share/kservices5/ServiceMenus using:

    mkdir -p ~/.local/share/kservices5/ServiceMenus/ && cp ~/Downloads/FormatUSB.desktop ~/.local/share/kservices5/ServiceMenus/

    The above command will also create the required folders if they do not exist.

  5. You should now be able to find the option to format a USB with mintstick (USB Stick Formatter) by right-clicking in a directory → Actions → Format USB.

This service menu also adds an option to also have the Format USB option in the device notifier, but as the author of the service menu notes:

Note: in order to display the "Format USB" option in the removable device notifier, you must have pressed the "format usb" button in the dolphin menu at least one time.

Also have a look at the related video to see how the service works.

Note: I haven't tested the above, since I don't currently have an installation with KDE. Any feedback is appreciated.

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