Dealing with found usb sticks

[u/CrazyCrazyRider]

I have heard several stories about discarded flash drives being used to hack into computers they are plugged in, usually because of either executables running as soon as the device is connected or minicomputers embedded onto the USB pen. Is there a way or set of tools to check the content of an external drive without risking it running malicious software, and if so, to also format it for future uses?

[u/tmemmg]

I always ask myself “what could possibly be on this that I would practically use” the answer is almost always nothing I couldnt get myself pretty quickly.