FAT32 vs. exFAT vs. NTFS: What's the Difference? - How-To Geek
Aug 24, 2023 · FAT32 is the oldest of the three file systems available to Windows. It was introduced all the way back in Windows 95 to replace the older FAT16 file system used in MS …
How to Format a USB Drive to FAT32 on Windows 11 or Windows 10
Jul 6, 2023 · Formatting your USB flash drive using the FAT32 file system is as easy as selecting a few options or running a command on your Windows 11 or Windows 10 PC. We'll show you …
How to Format USB Drives Larger Than 32GB With FAT32 on …
Oct 17, 2023 · Here's how to get around that. What is FAT32? FAT32 is a solid file system for external drives, so long as you don't plan to use files over 4GB in size. If you do need those …
What File System Should I Use for My USB Drive? - How-To Geek
Apr 8, 2023 · Use FAT32 if you need maximum compatibility between devices and won't be moving files larger than 4 gigabytes. Otherwise, use exFAT --- it supports larger drives, larger …
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 …
How to See a Drive's File System on Windows 10
Jul 28, 2020 · Usually, Windows 10 uses NTFS (short for "NT File System") as its default file system, but sometimes you'll see other file systems, such as FAT32 (a legacy Windows 9x-era …
Why Do Removable Drives Still Use FAT32 or exFAT Instead of NTFS?
May 29, 2023 · FAT32 isn't a journaling file system, which means that file system corruption can happen much more easily. With NTFS, changes are logged to a "journal" on the drive before …
What Is the "System Volume Information" Folder, and Can I Delete …
Nov 29, 2016 · On exFAT or FAT32-formatted drives, you can choose to delete the folder---but Windows will just recreate it in the future, since it needs it. Windows stores important system …
What's the Difference Between GPT and MBR When Partitioning a …
Aug 26, 2023 · GPT is a newer partitioning standard that has fewer limitations than MBR, such as allowing for more partitions per drive and supporting larger drives. Both Windows and macOS, …
Switching From Windows to Mac? You Need to Know These File …
Jul 26, 2025 · Both FAT32 and exFAT are commonly used to transfer data directly between Mac and PC computers, as well as for removable storage such as USB drives and SD cards.