Formatting of a floppy disk refers to

Disk formatting is generally split into low-level and high-level formatting:

• Low-level formatting (Physical formatting): This process divides the raw magnetic surface of the disk into concentric circles called tracks, and then further carves each track into smaller segments called sectors. It writes essential identification information (like sector headers, sync bytes, and track numbers) directly onto the disk so the drive head knows exactly where it is positioned.

• High-level formatting (Logical formatting): This builds the file system structure on top of those tracks and sectors (creating the root directory and file allocation tables).

Because standard disk formatting fundamentally establishes these physical tracking marks across the entire surface so data can be mapped, it refers to writing this tracking and identification architecture on all tracks and sectors.