- How to format a external drive with fat32 how to#
- How to format a external drive with fat32 full#
- How to format a external drive with fat32 windows#
How to format a external drive with fat32 windows#
If you got an NTFS hard drive, then you can only apply it in a Windows computer other than in a Mac. Why do I say it like this? Because each operating system reads a specific file system.
How to format a external drive with fat32 full#
It is no doubt that you want to make full use of your external hard drive. Disadvantages: Support maximum individual file size is no more than 4GB Windows offers no FAT32 option for an external hard drive over 32GB.Advantages: Great compatibility with all kinds of storage devices both Windows OS and macOS can read a FAT32 device.Description: The oldest file system among the popular three (FAT32, exFAT, and NTFS) Commonly used on removable storage drives and external HDDs.File System Name: File Allocation Table 32 (FAT32).
How to format a external drive with fat32 how to#
Format HDD to FAT32 in Windows 11/10 with Third-party partition managerįurther reading: how to format a 32GB/64GB/128GB SD card to FAT32 in Windows 11/10 Why Do You Format External Hard to FAT32 Format HDD to FAT32 in Windows 11/10 with Command Prompt You can apply either the Windows CMD or the third-party partition manager to format FAT32 in Windows 11/10 even when there is no FAT32 option in Windows 11/10 File Explorer or Disk Management. Open PowerShell with administrative privileges by hitting Windows+X on your keyboard, and then selecting “PowerShell (Admin)” from the Power User menu.Follow the Windows 11/10 FAT32 format tutorial to format HDD to FAT32 or format an external hard drive to FAT32 in Windows 11/10. Still, if you don’t want to-or can’t-download a third-party app, using the format command is pretty straightforward. Aside from the length of time, you also won’t know if formatting failed-unlikely but possible-until the process is done. Formatting our 64GB USB drive took almost over an hour, and we’ve heard some people complain that it can take many hours for bigger drives. The downside to doing this is that it can take a long time. You can format USB drives larger than 32GB with FAT32 by using the format command in PowerShell or Command Prompt-the command uses the same syntax in both tools. Format Large USB Drives with FAT32 by Using PowerShell No need to relaunch the tool or anything. If this happens to you, just close the File Explorer windows and try again. If you don’t, the tool will interpret the drive as being used by another app and formatting will fail.
One thing to note here: you’ll need to close any open File Explorer windows before you format the drive. This tool took a few seconds to format our 64GB USB drive that took us over an hour in PowerShell. Click “OK” to format the drive.įormatting with this tool is much quicker than the command line method described in the next section. The truth is that FAT32 has a theoretical volume size limit of 16 TB, with a current practical limit of about 8 TB-plenty for most USB drives.Ī window pops up to warn you that all data on the drive will be lost. Specifications put out by manufacturers on file systems as they pertain to drive size created the myth that FAT32 can only be used to format drives between 2 GB and 32 GB, and that is likely why native tools on Windows-and other systems-have that limit. Every major operating system and most devices support it, making it great for drives you need to access from different systems. The advantage to using FAT32 is portability. If you do need those larger file sizes, you’ll need to stick with something like NTFS or exFAT. RELATED: What File System Should I Use for My USB Drive?įAT32 is a solid file system for external drives, so long as you don’t plan to use files over 4GB in size. For whatever reason, the option to format USB drives larger than 32GB with the FAT32 file system isn’t present in the regular Windows format tool.