Question USB thumbdrive (64GB and larger), format to FAT32

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
MrBailey

MrBailey

Member
Dec 1, 2005
107
73
101
Good morning from a lurker.

I have a colleague trying to format 64GB USB thumbdrives to FAT32 on a Windows10 laptop. He's using the PowerShell command: format /FS:FAT32 F:

It's apparently not working.

Is there a way to format to FAT32 without resorting to third-party app?

Thanks!
 
mikeymikec

mikeymikec

Lifer
May 19, 2011
20,007
14,346
136
www.easeus.com

What Is FAT32 Partition Size Limit and How to Break It

What is the FAT32 partition size limit and how to break it? You are going to learn at least two ways to break FAT32 limitations. Either Command Prompt or EaseUS Partition Master Free can do you a favor.
www.easeus.com www.easeus.com

FAT32 can only support up to 32GB partition, and a single file can only support up to 4GB.
Click to expand...

Which is odd because I'm pretty sure I've seen =>64GB flash drives pre-formatted as FAT32 (I've got a Kingston 64GB stick here that I've barely used and is still labelled 'KINGSTON' so I definitely haven't formatted it as exFAT like a sensible person normally would) and my Nokia 8.3 refuses to read file systems on a MicroSD card other than FAT32, and the card in my phone is 64GB.

I think I've encountered Veracrypt on Linux refusing to create >32GB FAT32 partitions too.

You may have reasons for going for FAT32 specifically but if not, definitely use exFAT, mainly because it has neither of the quoted limitations of FAT32.
 
  • Like
Reactions: MrBailey and Shmee
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom