Formatting a drive might render all files on it inaccessible, but how well the data itself gets erased depends on the formatting process itself. A quick format process usually just rewrites the file system structures, but the data itself stays in the storage area and can get recovered until it gets overwritten. Still, one should not depend on this, especially if the data stored is valuable. In case of accidental formatting of a drive supported by Windows or macOS, Notchox can be used to recover lost files before the overwriting process begins.