Hard drives are organized into clusters and Allocation Unit Size describes the size of a single cluster.

If for compatibility or speed reasons you want to use FAT or FAT32, always use FAT32, unless you are using a 2GB or smaller device. On the other hand, exFAT is supported on OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard), but you need a driver to read it on Linux. NTFS is supported in Linux, but it requires a trick or a third-party application to work on the Mac. Remember that FAT and FAT32 are the only file system compatible with multiple platforms. It combines the benefits of FAT (small, fast) and NTFS (supports large file sizes) in a perfect way for flash drives. However, due to the way NTFS works, it is not recommended for flash drives, even if they are larger than 32GB. In other words, any regular sized hard drive (60GB +) should be formatted using NTFS. Create drive partitions larger than 32GBīy nature, FAT or better is FAT32 suitable for drives smaller than 32GB and in environments where you never need to store files larger than 2 or 4GB respectively.Less write to drive = faster and uses less memory.Compatible with almost all operating systems.

Encrypt files quickly using EFS (Encrypting File System Windows Professional).

Add user permissions to individual files and folders (Windows Professional).

Allows more clusters on large drives = less wasted space.

Better space management = less fragmentation.

Read / write files larger than 4GB and up to maximum partition size.

So what's the difference between those file systems and which should you choose? Consider the benefits of each. You will not see FAT and FAT32 if your drive is larger than 32GB. In Windows 10, you will see up to 4 different file systems: FAT, FAT32, NTFS, and exFAT. However, before proceeding with the format, you will want to understand what each of these options really means. To format the drive, just make your choice, click Start, followed by OK to confirm that you really want to erase all of the data and the drive will be formatted. You can also choose Restore device defaults in case the custom settings don't work. The format options you can customize are File system, Allocation unit size, Volume label and Format options.

Open Windows File Explorer and go to This PC (also known as Computer or My Computer ). FAT32 has a 4 GB maximum file size limitationįormat the drive or card using a file system that supported files larger than 4 GB in size.įor instructions, please refer to the following articles.Whether you're running Windows XP, Windows 7, Windows 8.1, or Windows 10, the steps are essentially the same.USB Flash Drives and SD cards with capacites of 64 GB are formatted using the FAT32 file system.Transfering files to a USB Flash or SD Card results in a File Too Large error message. Learn how to resolve a File to Large error message when transfering data to USB Flash drive or SD Card.*END Resolve USB Drive & Memory Card 4 GB File To Large Error Message

Best filesystem for 16gb flash drive