However, Windows does not make it easy to format a partition larger than 32 GB with the FAT32 file system. In order to overcome the volume size limit for FAT16 which is 2 GB, the largest volume size FAT32 supports is 2 terabytes with a cluster size of 512 bytes and 16TB with a cluster size of 4,096 bytes. It is widely used for USB flash drives, flash memory cards, and external hard drives for compatibility between all platforms. It is a disk format or file system used to store, organize, and retrieve files stored on a disk drive. How to format a USB drive to FAT32 on Mac?įAT32 (File Allocation Table32) is the 32-bit version of the FAT file system designed by Microsoft and introduced in 1996 with Windows 95 OSR2. Read below to know what FAT32 is, how it performs on Mac, and how to format a USB drive to FAT32 on Mac. Mac can read and recognize any device that comes with a FAT32 file system and mount it automatically with full access in the Finder and the desktop. FAT32 is ideal for a storage larger than 2GB and want to use it on Windows, macOS, PlayStation, camera, or car stereo for its universality. Another option, for those who use both Windows and Mac OS regularly, is to partition your hard drive and have a portion of the drive formatted for each OS.The overwhelming majority of USB flash drives come with FAT32 or NTFS. There are tools available to use NTFS on a Mac (Fuse) or HFS on PC (HFSExplorer). Windows will not detect this file system without a third party utility.

Only use this option if the drive will only be used in Mac OS. Mac OS Extended is the native solution for Mac users and has the max file size of any of them.It has a much larger max file size but is read-only on Mac OS X (unless you install a third party NTFS read/write utility). NTFS format is the file system Windows likes to use by default for internal drives running the operating system or used as a secondary storage drive.Older operating systems might require an update to properly read and write to a USB drive with an exFAT file system. It doesn’t have the 4GB file size limit and it’s compatible with most Windows and Mac operating systems. exFAT is the ideal file system for USB flash drives.It is the most compatible file system for older/modern computers (PC and Mac) plus gaming consoles and other devices with a USB port. Most USB flash drives will have a FAT32 file system out-of-box. FAT32 is a common option you’ll hear because it’s recognised by both Mac and Windows operating systems, but it offers no security and caps files at 4GB in size.The file systems most commonly used in USB flash drives are: When formatting your drive, it’s important to understand the different formatting options available for your ideal use.

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