32GB is the maximum partition size limit using the FAT or FAT32 file system format on Windows.
That said, FAT/FAT32 can actually format up to 16TB hard drives and most operating systems support up to 2TB. Microsoft has set a 32GB partition size limit for the FAT/FAT32 file system to promote NTFS, which is generally more efficient when working with large partitions.
HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool utility will format any USB flash drive, with your choice of FAT, FAT32, or NTFS partition types. You can also make the disk bootable by specifying a file location.
In truth, this limitation only exists in recent versions of Windows. Moreover, Windows does recognize large hard drives formatted with FAT/FAT32. Finally, you can circumvent the 32GB limit.
In this article, I will show you how to format a large hard drive with FAT/FAT32 or create a 32+GB partition with that file system.
FAT or FAT32 Formatting Tools
If you don’t want to mess with the command line and do a manual format, you can use tools that apply the same principle but provide a nice graphical user interface (GUI) for your convenience.
FAT32 Format
FAT32 Format is a basic portable GUI tool that doesn’t require installation. It just does one task, and it does it very efficiently: format drives with FAT32.
FAT32 Format works with Windows XP through 10 and supports up to 2 TB partition size. You can choose the allocation unit size and give the partition a new volume label. Unfortunately, it can not create new partitions.
Fat32Formatter
Windows 7 users can also try Fat32Formatter. It’s a self-executable tool with a decent GUI that allows you to format large hard drives with FAT32. Balloon tips guide the user through its functions. No other documentation is available. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get this tool to work reliably in Windows 10.
This tool is almost too simplistic. While you can delete a partition and create new ones, you cannot choose the allocation unit size.
If you want to manage your partitions, i.e. create new ones or change their size, I recommend that you use dedicated software. First, create a partition that you want to format with FAT32. Then, in case your partition managerHow to Set Up a Second Hard Drive in Windows: PartitioningHow to Set Up a Second Hard Drive in Windows: Partitioning https://lglucky.netlify.app/post-it-note-collaboration-tool-for-mac.html. You can split your drive into different sections with drive partitions. We'll show you how to resize, delete, and create partitions using a default Windows tool called Disk Management.Read More can’t do it, use one of the tools above to carry out the FAT32 formatting.
For a third-party alternative to Windows’ Disk Management partition manager, try GParted, or EaseUS Partition Master (which can also format large drives with FAT/FAT32). Snip tool for mac.
SwissKnife Premium
SwissKnife Premium is a simple partition manager that lets you do more than just format your hard drive with different file systems. You can also use it to delete, create, and resize partitions and it works faster than Windows.
This app worked fine when we first published this article in 2011 (for Windows XP), but we could not get it to run on Windows 10. SwissKnife Premium should support Windows 10, but you might be better off with one of the other tools.
Moreover, we could not confirm whether this version truly freeware. The previous version was only free for Windows 95 through XP, while you had to pay for the premium version.
How to Do a Manual FAT or FAT32 Format
Attention: Several readers have commented that this method failed with a “volume too big for FAT32” error after several hours. To avoid frustration, use a third-party tool or try the quick format option below.
Theoretically, you don’t need a tool to circumvent the 32GB partition limit when formatting with FAT32. You can manually format your driveHow to Format a USB Drive and Why You Would Need ToHow to Format a USB Drive and Why You Would Need ToFormatting a USB drive is easy. Our guide explains the easiest and fastest ways to format a USB drive on a Windows computer.Read More with FAT or FAT32 and it’s fairly easy. While this method worked fine in Windows 7 when tested originally, it might not work for you. If you’re on Windows 10, try the FAT32 Format utility above.
Do you still want to try the manual approach? Rather than using the standard Windows formatting tool, switch to the command line. In Windows 10, right-click the Start button to launch the power user menu and select Command Prompt. Then enter the following command at the prompt:
format /FS:FAT32 X:
Itool for mac. Replace the letter X with the drive letter for the external device you wish to format and hit Enter.
Alternatively, if you don’t want to wait for hours, ran into an error with the command above, or generally want to avoid third-party tools, you can also try the quick format command:
format /FS:FAT32 /Q X:
Mac Tools Set
Note: Quick format will only delete the file table. It will not erase or overwrite the files currently written to the drive. But if you do want to completely wipe a hard driveHow to Completely Wipe a Hard DriveHow to Completely Wipe a Hard DriveThere are two ways to wire a hard drive. Here's what you need to know to get it done quick and easy.Read More, we’ve shown you how.
FAT Formatting a Large Hard Drive
FAT and FAT32 are great file formats because they are cross-platform file systems. If you’re moving drives between multiple operating systems, you’ll want a widely supported format. Depending on the platforms you’re using, however, you should also consider exFATFAT32 vs. exFAT: What's the Difference and Which One Is Better?FAT32 vs. exFAT: What's the Difference and Which One Is Better?A file system is the tool that lets an operating system read data on any hard drive. Many systems use FAT32, but is that the right one, and is there a better option?Read More because it’s supported by Windows, Linux, and newer versions of macOS.
Looking for more tips? Check out our guide on how to format an external hard drive without losing any data.
Explore more about: Disk Partition, Drive Format, File System, Hard Drive, USB Drive.
In most cases, the goal of reformatting a drive to FAT32 is purely and simply to make the drive usable with some device that doesn't support NTFS. The /Q option achieves this goal perfectly, without wasting time overwriting every sector on the drive.
If you want to make sure all the data on the drive is securely erased and unrecoverable, there are better ways than re-formatting it.
Hi,
I got a 4tb HD and want to format it to FAT 32 in a single partition. This is for a Philips 4k TV which only supports FAT32. otherwise could have happily used Windows 7 Disk Manager to format it in exFAT or NTFS.
I tried the manual quick approach, didn't end well. Can anyone suggest a tool that will help me do this?
C:Usersannoyed>format /FS:FAT32 /Q G:
The type of the file system is NTFS.
The new file system is FAT32.
Enter current volume label for drive G: PHILIPSWARNING, ALL DATA ON NON-REMOVABLE DISK
DRIVE G: WILL BE LOST!
Proceed with Format (Y/N)? Y
QuickFormatting 3815318M
The disk is too large to format for the specified file system.Wow.. great job on not updating your article:( You have bothered to include references to windows 10, but the command line does not work. And several commenters have pointed this out to you.
If you had been smart enough to include the /q quickformat command I could have known sooner. Last time I will be using makeusof.
Windows 7 Professional 64-bit: this technique failed. After an hour or so of working on a 64GB U3 microSD card, stepping along 1 % at a step in the 'Verifying 61040M' step, it said, 'The volume is too big for FAT32.'
Unfortunally I't can't format more than 2TB anyway..
Nothing works. Real Nice.
CMD gets error 'Invalid Drive specification
Fat32 Format does not load at all on my windows 7 pro machine
Fat32 formatter gives me the error 'failed to determine the drive'
LOL
Tina,
nope.
The first basic advice just doesn't work. The cmdline tool starts the process, it's true, but ends up with a 'volume is too big for FAT32', even with a 64GB.
Please correct.Hi. I want to convert my 1 tb external ntfs hard drive to FAT. Please guide me.
Xbox one, ps4. Can format large 5tb external drives fast and easy. Fat 32 is the format.
Waited 10 hours for cmd to format my 750GB drive to FAT32 after which it decided to tell me it could NOT format the drive because it was too large. Downloaded the FAT32 utility, which promptly formatted the drive in 10 seconds. Hope future visitors see this!
DOH! Wish I had seen your post before doing the exact same thing!
Manual way with the cmd console, can't work, the message: the disk is too big for FAT32.
not working
This does not work. Upon entering in the format commands in DOS, my machine sits there and says 0% verified.. and that's where it just stops.
I'll post the same information to my blog, thanks for ideas and great article.
One thing you need to remember about FAT/32 is that the File Allocation Table which needs to be loaded into memory grows exponentially with the partition size. May or may not be an issue for you depending on your system spec.
You can't have any single file larger than 4gb in size with Fat32. Now that's a major limitation! Fat32 is less secure, that's another reason NTFS was created. There are small addon programs for MAC OSX to enable read/write to to ntfs drives for free. There is also a program from Paragon that allows windows to see Mac drives and read/write to it. Newest versions of Linux can read/write to both windows and Mac drives. Fat32 should be left to flash drives.
You provide sound reasons why NTFS is to be preferred over FAT32 under normal circumstances.
However, if you read the other comments you will understand that there are situations in which FAT32 is required! Although Linux and Mac OSX can work with NTFS, there is hardware, such as DVD/Bluetooth devices or game consoles, that can work with external storage media, but only if it is formatted with FAT32. And for those people wanting to connect a large hard drive to one of these devices, this article will be extremely valuable.
I just upgraded a PS3 with a larger HDD and it will only recognize a FAT32 HDD. In fact, to backup the OEM harddrive using the system's backup utility to an external drive, you need a FAT32 usb drive for that too.
This is another tool that allowed me to format an external drive to FAT32 and worked very well 'Easeus Partition Master Home Edition 7.0.1' and is a completely free tool.
It is true that Windows won't mark 'weak' sectors, however this is not guaranteed using any other 'proper' software for the job either.
I haven't used them in a while but SeaTools used to have problem with those sectors too. If the sector was found weak and the data couldn't be read (and relocated) it would be marked as pending until [any] data was written to it again.I would rather use Check Disk than some third party software simply because in addition to mark bad sectors it is able to detect File System errors. Unless the tool is able to do that it would just relocated the same bad data.
All drives nowadays come pre-formatted. The only reason to re-format is because you want to have another file-system.
Using the format tool to determine whether the drive has bad sector or not is very unreliable (it does not even check if the written sectors can be read and also only writes zero-bytes). If you are in doubt your drive is still OK you should really use the manufacturers test tools. Those work much more reliable and are also able to properly mark the sectors as bad.Your command line formatting took so long because you forgot the '/Q' as in 'Performs a quick format.'
Maybe you should add this to your post, as formatting a 1 TB drive could lead to some frustations without it.Unless you have used the drive before and know it is good, you really shouldn't use the /Q option. Doing a quick format on a brand new drive is asking for trouble because it doesn't actually verify that all the sectors can be written to. Yes, formatting a 1 TB drive can take a while, but it's less time than doing a quick format and having to recover your lost data when you find out the drive is bad.
thanks for the input
All drives nowadays come pre-formatted. The only reason to re-format is because you want to have another file-system.
Using the format tool to determine whether the drive has bad sector or not is very unreliable (it does not even check if the written sectors can be read and also only writes zero-bytes). If you are in doubt your drive is still OK you should really use the manufacturers test tools. Those work much more reliable and are also able to properly mark the sectors as bad.It is true that Windows won't mark 'weak' sectors, however this is not guaranteed using any other 'proper' software for the job either.
I haven't used them in a while but SeaTools used to have problem with those sectors too. If the sector was found weak and the data couldn't be read (and relocated) it would be marked as pending until [any] data was written to it again.I would rather use Check Disk than some third party software simply because in addition to mark bad sectors it is able to detect File System errors. Unless the tool is able to do that it would just relocated the same bad data.
Great input! Thanks for pointing out the /Q quick format option lf0!
good point
and fat32 is use for Playstation so you can change you internal drive but it need to be in fat32 for a 500 Gb drive
Your command line formatting took so long because you forgot the '/Q' as in 'Performs a quick format.'
Maybe you should add this to your post, as formatting a 1 TB drive could lead to some frustations without it.Not to mention all those DVD and BD Players/Recorders with a USB connector who won't be able to read anything different from FAT32.
Also pretty much all digital cameras use FAT32 on their memory cards.fat32 can be read and written to even by mac computers. So, both pc and mac can have access to it. NTFS can be read by macs, but cannot be written.
That's precisely the reason.
I mentioned the 'compatibility' issue of NTFS in the previous two articles on formatting and file systems, but should obviously have made it clear in this one! Thanks for your comment.
Not to mention all those DVD and BD Players/Recorders with a USB connector who won't be able to read anything different from FAT32.
Also pretty much all digital cameras use FAT32 on their memory cards.
I'm with Leo on this. Why would fat32 be better than ntfs?
Nice :) I am a bit curious as to why you would want to format a partition to fat32
(just wondering if there are any hidden benefits to the file format or is it a requirement for some niche application)Leo,
as Fred points out below, FAT32 is a file format that is supported by basically all operating systems without the need for drivers or other tricks.
If you work only with Windows, then by all means do not format your greater than 32 GB hard drives with FAT32. Stay with NTFS as it is a file system optimized for large partitions / hard drives!
This article is part of a mini series. You should also check out the other two posts:
//www.makeuseof.com/tag/file-system-find-runs-drives/
//www.makeuseof.com/tag/format-usb-drive/
Nice :) I am a bit curious as to why you would want to format a partition to fat32
(just wondering if there are any hidden benefits to the file format or is it a requirement for some niche application)
A quirk in the Apple Disk Utility allowed me to create a FAT32 volume that would not mount in Windows. Avoiding the same problem is easy once you have an understanding of how Apple's formatting tool works. Read on, support pros, and save yourselves from future headaches.
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I support both Macs and Windows machines, so I spend a lot of time running between systems. There are a few features in the MacOS that I rely on to make my double life a little easier, one of those being the built-in support Apple computers have for Windows volumes.
Since Macs can read and write to FAT32 partitions,* I can keep software and utilities for both operating systems on a single drive. That feature helps keep my tool kit a little lighter and my life a little simpler. In fact, when it comes to working with FAT32 partitions, Mac OS can do something natively that Windows cannot: MacOS can format FAT32 partitions larger than 32 GB. I frequently use MacOS to format FAT32 volumes, and that feature has historically worked for me without a hitch. At least, it did until last week, when I discovered a quirk in the MacOS Disk Utility that allowed me to create a FAT32 volume that would not mount on Windows.* Microsoft recommends their NTFS format for large Windows-compatible disks. Apple machines can natively read NTFS volumes, but they can’t write to that file system without third-party software. Look into the Mac port of the NTFS-3G project if you need to write to NTFS disks from your Mac.
The Disk Utility in MacOS version 10.5 is the nexus of file system management on your Apple computer. From that tool you can create partitions and disk images, format volumes, and mount files systems. Disk Utility was the obvious destination for me when I decided to format an old USB drive I had lying around. I needed to copy some files from my PlayStation 3, and I thought I would reformat an external HD for that purpose. The USB drive had some old Mac backups on it and was set up in the Apple-recommended HFS+ format. The PS3 will mount only FAT32 drives, so I thought I’d erase my drive and quickly reformat the volume. Then I’d be off to the races. Not so fast…
Mac Tools For Sale
When I took my drive over to my PS3, I discovered it wouldn’t mount. The drive wouldn’t mount on my Windows machine, either. Only after investigation did I discover that I had greatly misunderstood how I should have been using Apple’s Disk Utility.
Disk Utility displays a number of action palettes when you select a storage device from its left-hand pane. Two of these palettes, “Erase” and “Partition,” appear to accomplish the same thing, but there is a very significant difference. The Erase pane does not allow you to change your drive’s partition map.
Excel data analysis tool for mac discriptive. When I used the Erase tool on my HFS+ formatted drive, which carried an Apple Partition Map, Disk Utility obediently erased the HFS+ file system and replaced it with the FAT32 file system I asked for. It did not, however, create a Master Boot Record to replace the Apple Partition Map on the disk. So, when I tried to mount the disk on my PC and my PS3, both of which are devices that require an MBR to get their file system information, I was out of luck.
Editing a partition table is a separate administrative task in Mac OS, distinct from merely erasing a volume, which is probably pretty smart. I ran into this problem because I was jumping between formatting schemes on my disk. If I had not wanted to change the disk format my drive was using, I wouldn’t have encountered this issue. But then I would have missed out on a valuable learning experience, right?
If you want to make sure that the FAT32 disks you create with your Mac are completely Windows compatible, follow these steps:
Once your disk is selected, make sure to switch to the Partition palette, which is highlighted in Figure A.Figure AOn the Partition palette, follow the numbers. Best gui tool for postgresql on mac.
Step 1: Use the Volume Scheme pull-down menu to chose the number of partitions you want (Figure BMac Format For Pc
).Step 2: Go to the Options… pane and make sure Master Boot Record is selected (Figure C).Mac Format Fat32
Step 3: Choose MS-DOS from the Format pull-down menu. Click Apply to reformat your drive.
Figure BThe Options pane in the Partition tool is very clear about what partition schemes can be used where.
Figure C
Using FAT32 volumes is a good way to share files across platforms if you use both MacOS and Windows. Apple’s Disk Utility is a powerful tool for setting up such disks, but being ignorant of how to use its advanced options caused me a little trouble. Now that I have an understanding of the process, I won’t make the same mistake twice.