Floppy disks disk or floppy diskette is an obsolete type of disk storage composed of a thin and flexible disk of a magnetic storage medium in a square or nearly square plastic enclosure lined with a fabric that removes dust particles from the spinning disk.
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Floppy disks were so common in late 20th-century culture that many electronic and software programs continue to use save icons that look like floppy disks well into the 21st century.
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Floppy disks became commonplace during the 1980s and 1990s in their use with personal computers to distribute software, transfer data, and create backups.
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Unlike hard disks, floppy disks are handled and seen; even a novice user can identify a floppy disk.
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Early 8-inch and 5¼-inch Floppy disks had physical holes for each sector and were termed hard sectored Floppy disks.
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Later soft-sectored Floppy disks have only one index hole, and sector position is determined by the disk controller or low-level software from patterns marking the start of a sector.
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Blank Floppy disks have been distributed with an extensive set of warnings, cautioning the user not to expose it to dangerous conditions.
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Different sizes of floppy disks are mechanically incompatible, and disks can fit only one size of drive.
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Single-sided Floppy disks were coated on both sides, despite the availability of more expensive double sided Floppy disks.
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The reason usually given for the higher price was that double sided Floppy disks were certified error-free on both sides of the media.
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Double-sided Floppy disks could be used in some drives for single-sided Floppy disks, as long as an index signal was not needed.
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When floppy disks were often used, disks pre-formatted for popular computers were sold.
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Floppy disks disk drive and media manufacturers specify the unformatted capacity .
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