FAT32 vs. exFAT vs. NTFS: What's the Difference? - How-To Geek
Aug 24, 2023 · exFAT is the successor to FAT32, and addresses FAT32's biggest limitations: file and drive sizes. FAT32 can't handle partitions larger than 8TB, or files larger than 4GB, …
What File System Should I Use for My USB Drive? - How-To Geek
Apr 8, 2023 · exFAT: The extended File Allocation Table (exFAT) builds on FAT32 and offers a lightweight system without all the overhead of NTFS. ext2, ext3, & ext4: The extended file …
Why Do Removable Drives Still Use FAT32 or exFAT Instead of NTFS?
May 29, 2023 · exFAT is a more modern alternative to the FAT32 file system. It extends FAT32 with support for larger files and larger storage devices. exFAT support is widespread among …
What Should I Set the Allocation Unit Size to When Formatting?
Mar 26, 2023 · We've put together some tables comparing NTFS, FAT32, and exFAT, since they're the most common formats you'll encounter, and are regularly used with USB flash …
Switching From Windows to Mac? You Need to Know These File …
Jul 26, 2025 · FAT and exFAT: Windows supports various flavors of the File Allocation Table (FAT) file systems, including FAT12, FAT16, FAT16B, FAT16X, FAT32, and FAT32X. ExFAT: …
How to Mount and Use an exFAT Drive on Linux
Dec 10, 2015 · The exFAT file system is ideal for flash drives and SD cards. It's like FAT32, but without the 4 GB file size limit. You can use exFAT drives on Linux with full read-write support, …
How to Make a USB Drive That Can Be Read on Macs and PCs
Jul 7, 2021 · That file system is called exFAT, and it's designed for flash media cross-platform compatibility. Below, we'll show you how to set up a USB drive as exFAT for both Windows …
What's the Difference Between APFS, Mac OS Extended (HFS+), …
Oct 31, 2017 · ExFAT is the best cross platform option, designed to work on Windows and macOS systems. Use this for an external drive that will plug into both kinds of computers.
How to Format USB Drives Larger Than 32GB With FAT32 on …
Oct 17, 2023 · Remember, just because you can format a large drive with FAT32 doesn't mean that you should — exFAT is better in most ways, and is supported by almost every modern …
How to Format a Hard Drive or SSD on Windows 11
Dec 10, 2023 · File System: A file system is a data structure that tells an operating system how to save and load files to or from a disk. Depending on the drive's size, your options will be FAT, …