2021 best fat32 format tool/formatter free download for windows 10/8.1/8/7/xp/vista

Как форматировать флешку на Mac OS

Теперь посмотрим, как выглядит процесс форматирования флешки на Mac OS. Для данной задачи есть утилита под названием «Дисковая утилита«. Найти ее можно несколькими методами.

Через поиск — для этого в правом, верхнем углу найдите значок с лупой, в поисковой строке введите дисковая утилита, чуть ниже вы увидите результаты поиска, в которых будет соответствующий пункт.

Так же в нее можно попасть через лайнчер, в котором есть папка «Другие»

Содержащая в себе дисковую утилиту.

В открывшемся окне, найдите вашу флешку. Выберите ее и перейдите на вкладку «Стереть». В выборе файловой системы вы не обнаружите NTFS, так как по умолчанию Mac OS не умеет в нее форматировать, для этого необходимо покупать дополнительный софт по типу NTFS Seagate или NTFS Paragon. Если стоит задача подготовить флешку, которую смогла бы прочитать операционная система Windows, то вам подойдет формат ExFAT.

Для старта форматирования флешки нажмите кнопку «Стереть»

В окне с предупреждением, о том, что данные будут стерты, нажимаем «Стереть».

Надеюсь, что данные методы окажутся для вас полезными, и вы сможете подготовить флешку в нужном для вас формате. С вами был Иван Семин, автор и создатель IT портала Pyatilistnik.org.

Как лучше форматировать флешку?

Когда вы слышите или вам задают такой вопрос, то сразу знайте, что он не корректный по ряду причин:

• Во первых нужно четко понимать, для каких задач вам необходима флешка или SD карта. Каждое устройство или технология, умеет работать только с известными ей файловыми системами, поэтому выбор метода форматирования флешки прямиком зависит от этого. Например, файловая система FAT32 не умеет работать с файлами более 2 ГБ, поэтому фильмы в HD формате вы туда не сможете записать, для этого есть NTFS. Обратная ситуацию NTFS можете не прочитаться различным старым оборудованием, например магнитолы, АТС, телефоны и прочая техника. Они просто не знают, о существовании такой файловой системы.
• Следующим критерием выступает в какой операционной системе планируется форматирование флешки, так как это напрямую зависит, какой софт вы сможет использовать, не все утилиты есть, как на Windows так и на Mac OS.

Why Choose FAT32

What Is FAT32

When it comes to FAT32, you should know it refers to a version of the file allocation table (FAT) which is available since Windows 95 OSR 2 and Windows 98. It increases the number of bits used to address clusters and also reduces the size of each cluster. As a result, it can support larger disks (up to 2 terabytes) and better storage efficiency (less slack space).

FAT32 is an old file system, so many old operating systems including Win95, Win98, Win2000, Win2003, Win Vista and more support this file system.

What’s more, as for some old game consoles, FAT32 is available. When reading here, you know FAT32 has very good compatibility. Besides, USB drives adopt the FAT32 file system by default.

Why Format to FAT32

Generally speaking, this is mainly because of the better compatibility of FAT32, despite that it can not support files larger than 4GB file size for single files.

Let’s focus on a common issue for more information: What is the best format for a USB drive?

If you are using a USB drive but the partition is formatted to NTFS before, now you want to use your USB disk to connect to a game console PS3/PS4, Linux, or Mac OS X. In this case, you need to use a FAT32 formatter tool to change the file system to FAT32. Otherwise, PS4 can’t read USB flash drive or you are unable to write in Mac OS/Linux.

Moreover, there is another case showing the necessity of formatting a hard drive to FAT32. You want to connect your USB disk or Seagate/Western Digital external hard drive to a NAS but the NTFS permissions cause the NAS not to access the drive. Under this circumstance, the better solution is to adopt FAT32.

Part 7. How to Recover and Repair Data from Formatted SD Card

Dealing with repairing and recovering data from formatted SD card is quite a process. In reality, the data said to be formatted from the SD card is always there but only gets inaccessible. So to recover and repair the data from the formatted SD card, you need third-party software. And what else can be beneficial than Recoverit data recovery!

As a potential example of functionality for the software, here is the following:

Advanced Video Recovery function of Recoverit

Being an apt software for recovering the deleted videos from the formatted SD cards, RecoverIt provides recovered video with their original names and date of creation. Providing a wide range of compatible video formats you can recover the videos. It provides deep scanning and a preview before saving the data.

The following are steps to recover a corrupted video with RecoverIt.

Step 1: Start with selecting a location

Step 2: Proceeding with scanning the location

Step 3: Once the scan is complete, go for looking at the preview

Advanced Video Recovery function of Recoverit:

Video files are different from any other type of data. Sometimes, you might find the video corruption after the preview using the software. Don’t worry from now on. If so, Recoverit reminds and works for you. Recoverit Data Recovery Ultimate supports the Advance Video Recovery feature. It scans, gathers, and matches the fragments of your corrupt videos, and thus ensures most of your videos are recovered from DSLR, Digital cameras, Drones, Action Cameras, Dashcams, camcorders, SD card, PC, HDD, etc.

• Scan and match your video fragments
• Merge the fragments from the same video
• Recover your videos and keep 95% of them intact
• Recover unlimited video files without corruption

Steps to Repair Corrupted Video with Recoverit:

Moreover, Recoverit’s Video Repair is powerful video repair software for repairing corrupt, broken, or damaged MOV, MP4, M2TS, MKV, MTS, 3GP, AVI, and FLV file formats. It supports two repair modes. Quick repair is to repair various video errors. The advanced repair can repair your corrupt videos by analyzing the data and technology of the sample video shot by the same device.

• Repair multiple formats of videos simultaneously.
• Free scan for corrupt videos and preview repaired videos before saving them
• No limitations on the size of Video files for repair
• Repair any number of corrupt Video files

Step 1: Add your corrupted videosLaunch the application on your computer. To repair your corrupted video files, you can add it through clicking the Add button or «Add video and start repairing» area.

Step 2: Repair your videosAs soon as you have added all the corrupted videos, click on the Repair option to start the video repair process.

Step 3: Preview the videosIt will take some time to repair and once it has finished the repair process, a reminder showing info of successful fix will pop up on the screen. Press OK to close the operation.

Step 4: Advance mode for severely corrupted video (optional)If the videos are severely corrupted and not repaired successfully, please go to the advanced repair mode. Just click the Advanced Repair button.

Then add a sample video and repair it now.

Step 5: Save repaired videoThe advance repair will perform the repairing process and prompt a success message when the process is completely done. Now, you can play these videos and you will not see any error on the screen.

Part 5. Format 64/128GB SD Card to FAT32 Using FAT32 Format Tool

One of the efficient FAT32 format tools, be it a third-party application software, the FAT32 is at your service to format those larger USB drives or SD cards i.e. format 64GB SD card to FAT32 and format 128GBSD card to FAT32. It carries the option of a portable app. So the choice is yours. Either download and install the application on your device (PC) or get their app and you are free to use even on your mobiles.

Follow this stepwise procedure to format a 64GB SD card to FAT32 and format the 128GBSD card to FAT32.

Step 1: Once downloaded, The FAT32 window will appear on the screen, select the drive, and add the volume label. Now check the box of Quick format and click Start to proceed.

Step 2: You will get a warning message i.e. ‘Do you format the drive? All data will be lost!’ Click Ok to continue formatting.

All done! Continue your desired actions. In case you are dealing with a 64GB SD card and you want to format a 64GB SD card to FAT32, all the steps are the same as mentioned above.

Форматирование флешки — как

Начнем с самых простых способов, которые сделать проще всего. Так, с помощью первого способа сделать форматирование флешки в fat32 или в другой формат проще всего.

1. Через проводник — этот компьютер

1. Нажмите на клавиатуре разом «WIN + E» и в левом столбце переключитесь на «Этот компьютер». В Windows 7 он откроется сразу после нажатия клавиш.

2. Кликните правой кнопкой мыши по съемному накопителю и выберите пункт «Форматировать».

3. Здесь необходимо указать конечную файловую систему и выбрать способ форматирования. Другие параметры трогать без необходимости не нужно. Если сомневаетесь, что же выбрать — можете нажать на восстановление параметров по умолчанию.

При быстрой очистке — процесс займет буквально около минуты, если выбрать полную чистку, то длится может и до часа. Чем отличается быстрое форматирование от полного — написано в главе ниже.

Важно! Если флеш устройство или СД карта вообще не читается и компьютер даже не видит их, подробно, как решить эту проблему мы рассмотрели в материале про восстановление флешки

2. Через управление дисками

1. Нажмите одновременно клавиши «WIN + R», введите команду — diskmgmt.msc и нажмите на ОК, чтобы открыть утилиту управления дисками. В Windows 10 запустить ее еще можно, кликнув правой кнопкой мыши по значку Виндовс в панели задач и открыв соответствующий пункт.

2. В информационной панели найдите ваш диск, щелкните по нему правой кнопкой мыши и далее по «Форматировать». Если выйдет окно с информацией о том, что том активный — соглашайтесь.

3. Здесь укажите название диска — метка тома или удалите его значение, чтобы названия не было. Выберите файловую систему и способ форматирования, затем нажмите на OK.

4. Как идет процесс будет отображаться в нижней части утилиты и, по его завершении, флешка отобразится уже с новым названием и полностью свободная.

Важно! О том, как сделать эту операцию с флеш накопителем, защищенным от записи, написано в материале — как отформатировать флешку защищенную от записи

3. Через командную строку

Не стоит работать через командную строку, если не уверены в себе и имеете мало познаний в ПК. Вводите букву точно, иначе отформатируете вообще другой диск или карту.

Важно! Чтобы форматировать флешку нужно знать ее букву, посмотреть ее можно в «Этот компьютер» или в «Управление дисками», о том, как зайти в них, написано в первых и вторых главах. 1

Нажмите разом кнопки «WIN + R» и введите команду — cmd — откроется командная строка

1. Нажмите разом кнопки «WIN + R» и введите команду — cmd — откроется командная строка.

2. Введите команду:

format G: /FS:FAT32 /Q /V:

• format G: — где G, буква флешки вставленной в компьютер или ноутбук.
• /FS:FAT32 — файловая система, если нужно форматировать в NTFS, пишите /FS:NTFS
• /Q — быстрое форматирование, если удалить это значение, то будет полная и долгая чистка
• /V: — метка тома, название накопителя, которое будет отображаться в системе, после двоеточия, если ввести что-то — это будет название

Интересно! Это способ отлично подойдет, если с помощью других вариантов не получается переформатировать в нужный формат. К примеру, в поле выбора системы отображается только ФАТ32, а нужно отформатировать именно в НТФС.

4. Используем программы

Утилит для форматирования флешек и сд карт есть очень много разных, есть специальные для определенных производителей и те, которые подходят для всех моделей.

HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool

Адрес: HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool

Универсальна утилита, с помощью которой можно быстро и эффективно отформатировать флеш накопитель в нужный формат. Работает очень быстро и исправляет ошибки в работе устройства.

Kingston Format Utility

Адрес: Kingston Format Utility

Предназначена исключительно для флешек и СД карточек компании Кингстон. Работает с ними эффективно, форматирует в различные форматы и исправляет ошибки в работе.

SDFormatter

Адрес: SDFormatter

Предназначена для форматирования карт памяти, поддерживает все модели флеш накопителей и выполняет свою работу качественно. Если необходимо сделать эту операцию с SD картой и нужна для этого хорошая программа — то это отличный вариант.

Free DiskPart alternative: format large drive to FAT32 easily

When you meet the above-described error message or you are not an expert at running such complicated commands, you can search for a DiskPart alternative to easily format hard drive to FAT32. We highly recommend a free partition manager named AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard. It is easy to use no matter you are either a computer expert or a newbie. It can help format a large hard drive (over 32GB) to FAT32 in below three steps.

Download Freeware Win 10/8.1/8/7/XP
Secure Download

Step 1. Download free software. Install and launch it. Right-click the disk partition you want to format as FAT32 and choose «Format Partition». Here we choose a 120GB drive.

Step 2. Select «FAT32» as the file system and click «OK».

Step 3. Back to the main interface, click «Apply» to actually begin formatting the disk.

Note: if the large hard drive happens to be with the NTFS file system, you can try AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard’s NTFS to FAT32 Converter , which allows you to convert file systems between FAT32 and NTFS without formatting or losing data.

Convert NTFS to FAT32 without formatting hard disk via freeware

AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard is
powerful partition manager that allows you to convert file system between NTFS and
FAT32 without losing data, no need to format selected drives. It will also
format large-sized partition to FAT32, like 64GB SD card, 500GB and 1TB external
hard drive. The software works perfect in Windows 10, 8, 8.1, 7, XP, and Vista. Free download to have a try. To convert NTFS
to FAT32 without data loss:

Download Freeware
Win 10/8.1/8/7/XP

Secure Download

1. Install and run AOMEI free software. Click All Tools > NTFS to FAT32
Converter in the left side. It will open a small application.

2. Choose the way of converting. Here you need to choose NTFS to
FAT32.

3. Choose NTFS partition from the list. You can tell the partition through the partition
size and drive letter.

Note: If the partition that is going to be converted has compressed, encrypted file or larger than 4GB, the program will point out and all compressed and encrypted files will be shown to you, decompress and decrypt directly just by clicking «Start to decompress these compressed files» and «Start to decrypt these encrypted files».

4. Review the operation and click on Proceed.

It is not difficult to convert NTFS to FAT32, even without data loss. AOMEI Partition
Assistant provides more useful features that may help you do daily managements. For
instance, you can partition USB drive or create partition from C drive without data loss. Download to explore more.

How do you format SDXC to FAT32 in Windows 10/8/7?

When it comes to formatting SDXC card to FAT32 in Windows 10/8/7, you can try the Windows inbuilt tools first.

Keep in mind: formatting process will erase everything on the SDXC card, so you had better clone SDXC card to another disk to make a data backup.

Method 1. Format SDXC card to FAT32 via Windows File Explorer

As long as you insert an SDXC card into your computer, you can see an added partition in File Explorer. Right click on it and select «Format». Then a small window will pop out where you are allowed to select «FAT32» as the file system, tick «Quick Format» and click «Start» to begin the formatting process.

Method 2. Format SDXC card to FAT32 via Windows Disk Management

First of all, open Disk Management by right clicking on «This PC/My computer»-> «Manage»-> «Disk Management». Then you will see the basic information on your disk. Right-click the SDXC card and select «Format», then select «FAT32» at the File system drop-down and click «OK».

Method 3. Format SDXC card to FAT32 via Diskpart

Diskpart can also format SDXC card into FAT32 by running some commands. First enter the command windows: press «Win+R» at the same time, type «cmd», run the program as administrator. Then type the following commands one by one and remember to hit enter after each.

• diskpart

• list volume

• select volume n (n refers to the volume number of SDXC, ensure you input the right number, or you will format the wrong disk.)

• format fs=fat32

Wait until it is done.

Two recommended HP FAT32 formatters for Windows PC

Considering that Windows build-in formatting methods (DiskPart, Disk Management and File Explorer) cannot format a large hard drive to the FAT32 file system, below we would like to share two more powerful HP FAT32 format programs to successfully format the large HP USB drive to FAT32.

Note: Formatting will delete all data on the USB drive, so make sure you back up everything important using AOMEI Backupper in advance to avoid unnecessary loss.

1. HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool

When the times comes for formatting HP USB drives to FAT32 in Windows computer, the HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool is a great choice since it can format USB drives to FAT32 even when the drive is larger than 32GB. The formatting process is relatively straightforward:

Step 1. Connect the USB drive to your computer and make sure it is detected. Download the HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool from a reliable website to your computer.

Step 2. Right-click the HP format tool icon, choose “Run as administrator”, and click “Yes” in the pop-out dialogue.

Step 3. Specify the device you wish to format, select the FAT32 file system and assign the name to the selected device, then optionally choose «quick format» or enable compression.

Step 4. When all options have done, click “Start” to begin formatting.

Cons of the above HP USB FAT32 formatter:①It could work perfectly in Windows 7, but it cannot perform well as usual after you upgrade OS to Windows 10 on your desktop and laptop.②It cannot finish the formatting process when the USB drive is read only/write-protected, then will pop out format error “Device media is write-protected”.③If you don’t select “Run as Administrator” when launching it, you will get an error message “Permission Denied”.

2. Free AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard

To evade the restrictions of the HP USB Disk Storage Disk Format Tool, we recommend you a much better HP FAT32 formatter-AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard (Freeware).

Compared with the last HP FAT32 format utility, it can work on all versions of Windows 10/8/7 and Windows XP/Vista. Besides, it is also capable of formatting external hard drives from other famous brands like Seagate, SanDisk, Samsung, etc to FAT32, NTFS, exFAT, Ext2/3/4. What’s more, this software can format write-protected, corrupted and format RAW USB drives with ease. The formatting process is also easier:

Download Freeware
Win 10/8.1/8/7/XP

Secure Download

Step 1. Install and run AOMEI Partition Assistant. Right-click the target USB drive and choose “Format Partition”.

Step 2. Select FAT32 under file system tab and click “OK”.

Step 3. Back to the main interface, click “Apply” and «Proceed» to execute the formatting.

Additional function: convert NTFS to FAT32 without losing dataIf you are planning to format HP USB drive from NTFS file system to FAT32, you can try “NTFS to FAT32 Converter” offered by AOMEI Partition Assistant. This feature can safely convert NTFS to FAT32 and convert FAT/FAT32 to NTFS without formatting/losing data.

How to use Windows File Explorer to format a USB drive to FAT32

A quick note about this method: it only works on USB flash drives that are less that 32 GB. If your USB drive is larger than 32 GB, check out one of the later methods.

With that out of the way, plug your USB drive into your computer and open Windows File Explorer.

Next, right-click on the drive on the left hand side of the File Explorer window and click «Format»:

In the window that pops up, ensure that «FAT32» is selected. Also, feel free to rename the USB drive whatever you’d like:

You can leave the rest of the options alone. Just click start to format your drive.

Once it’s done, your USB drive should be formatted to use the FAT32 file system.

To double check this, open File Explorer, right click on your USB drive, and click «Properties».

A window will pop up and you should see that the file system is now FAT32:

Накопители до 32 ГБ

Если предполагается очистить носитель до 32 ГБ, сделать это можно стандартными средствами Windows. Стоит лишь предварительно сохранить всю нужную информацию на ПК и приступить к очистке:

1. В папке «Мой компьютер» вызвать на нужном устройстве контекстное меню и выбрать «Форматировать»;
2. Откроется окно форматирования и в меню «Файловая система» надо выбрать формат FAT32;
3. Снять галочку с «Быстрое форматирование» для полного удаления всех данных и устранения возможных проблем с чтением;
4. Запуститься процесс форматирования, из-за того, что была выбрана полная очистка, это может занять какое-то время;
5. После окончания кликнуть «Ок» и окошко автоматически закроется.

После завершения процесса можно заново записывать на носитель информацию.

Part 3. Format 32 GB SD Card or Smaller to FAT32 with Windows Explorer

Apart from the windows disk management, there also exists a potential alternation with which you can format microSD to FAT32. Using windows explorer in this stance, all you have to follow is this mentioned step-wise process and you will be done with formatting in a few seconds.

Let’s get started!

Step 1: You have to select Format in GUI with a right-click

Step 2: Next step is again you have to choose the file system & allocation unit size, enter a volume label, select a quick format suitable for you. Click Start to continue.

Step 3: here you will witness a warning message saying ‘Formatting will erase ALL data on this disk. To format the disk, click OK. To quit, click «CANCEL’. For continuing the format, click OK.

Once clicking Ok, the formatting process will start and soon you will be done with your desired action.

Step by step: Diskpart format to FAT32 in Windows 10/8/7

Usually, you can format a disk to FAT32 in File Explorer and Disk Management. However, if you fail to format hard drive to FAT32 successfully via these two built-in tools and receive formatting errors like «Windows was unable to complete the format» or «The format did not complete successfully», you can turn to DiskPart.exe tool. Below are steps to format disk to FAT32 via Diskpart command line. You will need local administrator access on the computer to follow these steps.

Warning: The formatting process means data loss, so back up everything important before proceeding. You can back up to cloud or local drive.

Step 1. On your keyboard, press the «Windows + R» at the same time to open «Run» Window, then type «Diskpart» and click «OK» (click Yes if prompted by the User Access Control).

Step 2. DISKPART will open in a command prompt window. And type the following commands in sequence:

• list disk: see all disks connected to your computer, and you need to identify which drive needs to be formatted by size.

• select disk 1: select the disk which contains the target drive.

• list partition: list all partitions on the disk.

• select partition X: X refers the partition number that you need to format.

• format fs=fat32 or format fs=fat32 quick

If the disk is set to be write-protected, you need to run extra different commands to format it to FAT32 via DiskPart.

«list disk >select disk 1 >attributes disk clear readonly >clean >create partition primary >format fs=fat32″

Then you can format write-protected disk using DiskPart with a success.

Successfully format large SDXC to FAT32 in Windows 10/8/7

In order to avoid the above situations, you can turn to a professional partition manager like AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard. This freeware can successfully format over 32GB SDXC card, USB flash frive, pen drive, or other external hard drive to FAT32 in Windows 10/8/7 and Windows XP/Vista (all editions). Besides, it can also help format the hard drive that becomes RAW or read only because of corrupted file system. Moreover, it is able to format drive to Ext4/Ext3/Ext2 in Windows.

Below is how to format 128 GB SDXC card to FAT32 (example):

Step 1. Connect your SDXC card to your Windows PC via a card reader and make sure it is detected. And free download the AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard.

Download Freeware
Win 10/8.1/8/7/XP

Secure Download

Step 2. Install and run this partition manager to enter its main interface. Right-click the partition of SDXC card and select «Format Partition».

Step 3. Choose «FAT32′ under file system menu and click «OK».

Step 4. Back to the main interface, click «Apply» to start formatting the card.

Other appealing features of AOMEI Partition Assistant

• Move partition to another location on the same disk;

• Copy partition to another hard drive or partition;

• Clone MBR system disk to MBR disk, clone MBR data disk to GPT (vice versa) and clone GPT data disk to GPT;

• Transfer OS to SSD to speed up computer;

• Rebuild MBR (Master Boot Record) to fix some common boot issues;

• Convert data disk between MBR and GPT partition table without deleting partitions;

• …

Need to format hard drive to FAT32

No matter you are using a pendrive, SD card, USB flash drive, SSD or other external hard drives to store your data, you will need to format it to FAT32 in the following situations.

①If you plan to use the disk on PS3, Xbox or some other games consoles that only supports FAT32 file system, then you will need to format the disk to FAT32.

②If you want your device to be compatible with more operating systems, like Mac, Linux and some other older versions of Windows including Windows 98, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, etc, the FAT32 is the best choice.

③If you need to connect your hard drive to a NAS device, but the NTFS won’t allow the NAS device to access the drive, then you need to format or convert NTFS to FAT32.

How Do I Format a Large External Hard Drive to FAT32

«I have a 250GB external hard drive and I want to format it into FAT32 so to use it as a game drive, connecting to PS4. But Windows 10 Disk Management tool failed to format the external hard disk drive to FAT32 as it is larger than 32GB. Is there a third-party FAT32 format tool that can help?»

While formatting a large hard drive, external hard drive or USB drive as Fat32, you may fail to complete the format using the default Windows format tool — using Windows File Explorer or Disk Management. It is because the FAT32 file system has a 32GB max size limit. In other words, Windows can only format a device within 32GB storage to FAT32.

But don’t worry! Here, a third-party free FAT32 formatter can help you complete this job with no obstacle. 

Программа fat32format для форматирования в FAT32 USB дисков любого размера

Самый простой способ отформатировать большие USB-накопители в FAT32 (если вы не против загрузить бесплатное стороннее приложение) — это использовать версию fat32format с графическим интерфейсом от Ridgecrop Consultants.

Это портативное приложение, поэтому вам не нужно ничего устанавливать. Просто запустите исполняемый файл.

В окне fat32format выберите диск для форматирования и введите метку тома, если хотите. Выберите опцию Quick Format «Быстрое форматирование», а затем нажмите кнопку «Start».

Появится окно с предупреждением о том, что все данные на диске будут потеряны. Нажмите «ОК» для форматирования диска.

Форматирование с помощью этого инструмента выполняется намного быстрее, чем метод командной строки, описанный в следующем разделе. Этому инструменту потребовалось несколько секунд, чтобы отформатировать наш 64-ГБ USB-накопитель, что заняло у нас более часа в PowerShell.

Здесь нужно отметить одну вещь: вам необходимо закрыть все открытые окна Проводника, прежде чем форматировать диск. Если вы этого не сделаете, инструмент интерпретирует диск как используемый другим приложением, и форматирование не удастся. Если это произойдёт с вами, просто закройте окна проводника и попробуйте снова. Не нужно перезапускать инструмент или что-то ещё.

Part 6. Format 64/128GB SD Card to FAT32 with PowerShell

PowerShell is used to format the SD card to FAT 32. It helps in action like format 64GB SD card to FAT32 and format 128GBSD card to FAT32. It facilitates the users to go for formatting without downloading the third party application software.

Below are the steps you can follow to format the SD card to FAT32.

Step 1: Press Windows+X. Select PowerShell (admin) from the drop-down and run PowerShell as administrator.

Step 2: In the PowerShell dialogue box, type a command i.e. format /FS: FAT32 X: and click Enter.

Step 3: The formatting action will start and would be completed in approximately one hour.

FAT32 compared to other formats

Of those three common formats, FAT32 is the oldest and most widely supported. Every major operating system will allow you to read and write from a USB flash drive that’s formatted to FAT32.

Meanwhile, macOS can only read NTFS drives, and you would need to install third-party software to write back to the drive.

However, though FAT32 is well supported, its maximum drive and file size is severely limited when compared to newer formats like NTFS and ExFAT:

	Max drive size	Max file size	Windows	macOS	Linux
FAT32	32 GB (Windows), up to 16TB (Other OSs)	4 GB	Read/Write	Read/Write	Read/Write
NTFS	8 PB*	16 EB**	Read/Write	Read	Read/Write
ExFAT	128 PB*	16 EB**	Read/Write	Read/Write	Read/Write

* 1 petabyte is about 1 thousand terabytes
** 1 exabyte is about 1 million terabytes

Note that the maximum drive and file size of NTFS and ExFAT is so large that there’s basically no limit. (But it would be nice to have a 128 PB USB drive, wouldn’t it?)

On the other hand, FAT32’s max file size of 4 GB is almost nothing now that phones can record 4K videos. Also, it’s a little more difficult to format a drive larger than 32 GB to FAT32 on Windows 10.

These days, the only reason why you’d choose to format a drive to FAT32 is for compatibility. For example, if you need to boot up an old computer, maybe with a different operating system, and backup some of its files. But you’d need to be sure that none of those files are greater than 4 GB.

If you’re sure you want to go with FAT32, here’s how to format a storage drive on Windows 10.

Important note: Before you format a drive, make sure that you backup all of your important files. In fact, make two backups, and keep one on a remote service like Google Drive or Dropbox.

Formatting a drive will delete all of the data that’s currently on it.

FAT32 Formatter FAQ

What is FAT32 format?
FAT32 is a file system and it is the next in line after FAT16 and FAT. Usually, it is used for microSD cards, USB drives, memory sticks, etc.

How can I format my USB to FAT32?
You can use professional FAT32 formatters, for example, MiniTool Partition Wizard, Windows Disk Manager, Windows Explorer, and Command Prompt.

How do I format a 64GB USB to FAT32?

1. Run MiniTool Partition Wizard.
2. Choose the USB disk, click Format Partition, and choose FAT32 as the file system.
3. Click Apply to execute the operation.

Why can’t I format to FAT32?
If the partition is larger than 32GB, you can’t format it to FAT32. This is a limitation of the Windows system. In this case, you can use MiniTool Partition Wizard to format it to FAT332.

Why Is FAT32 Disabled in Windows 10?

Despite the fact that FAT32 is so versatile, Windows 10 does not allow you to format drives in FAT32. This may seem like an odd choice; however, there is sound reasoning behind the decision.

Since the FAT32 file system is so old, there are two significant limitations. The first is that the FAT32 file architecture cannot be used on drives larger than 16TB. Admittedly, this isn’t a huge issue for most people. However, the second drawback of FAT32 can be a bigger headache: FAT32 cannot handle individual files over 4GB in size.

FAT32 has been replaced by the more modern exFAT (extended file allocation) file system. exFAT has a greater file-size limit than FAT32. The only downside to exFAT is that it was developed by Microsoft and therefore owns all the patents. This means that the ability to manipulate the exFAT file structure, such as read, write, and repair capabilities, must be licensed. Unfortunately this means there can be some compatibility issues when using exFAT. This makes FAT32 a bit easier to work with, despite the file-size limitations.