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Format USB from FAT32 to NTFS via Disk Management. ✍ Tips: This method will format your USB. As we all know, some USB drives are preformatted in FAT32, exFAT, or NTFS file system. These file systems are well supported in Windows systems. However, in Linux systems, FAT32 and exFAT file systems are still supported well but the compatibility with NTFS file system may be not so good. Amazon's Choice for fat32 usb flash drive. 32G USB Flash Drive FAT32 Memory Stick Thumb Drive for Computer/Laptop for Photo/Video Backup with Indicative Light. 4.5 out of 5 stars 31. Get it as soon as Mon, Jan 4. FREE Shipping on orders over $25 shipped by Amazon. FAT32 and NTFS are file systems i.e., a set of logical constructs that an operating system can use to track manage files on a disk volume.Storage hardware cannot be used without a file system, but not all file systems are universally supported by all operating systems. All operating systems support FAT32 because it is a simple file system and has been around for a really long time. 60 posts / 0 new. June 16, 2006 - 11:45pm #1. Last seen: 12 years 8 months ago. Joined: 2006-04-10 03:24. What do most ppl have as their file system on their USB? And which one is better. I read that Fat is good because it safely ejects better.
This page covers the complete process of converting exFAT to FAT32 on your storage devices. Follow the You-Must-Do preparation tips and pick up one of the most suitable methods to switch your device file system from exFAT to FAT32 with ease now:
- # 1. You-Must-Do Preparations
- # 2. Three exFAT to FAT32 Conversion Methods:
- EaseUS exFAT to FAT32 Converter - Free & Efficient Tool for All Levels of Users
- Disk Management - Free Windows Built-in Tool for Beginners
- CMD - Free Windows Built-in Tool & Complex for Beginners
Questions: How Do I Convert exFAT to FAT32 Without Losing Data
'How to format a 64GB SD card from exFAT to FAT32? I have a Sandisk Ultra 64GB SD card and cannot get it to a FAT 32 format. I'm using Windows 10.'
'I want to convert an exFAT-formatted USB flash drive to FAT32. I've tried a few links, no success. Is there any software that can help?'
'Is there any way to convert exFAT to FAT 32 on an external hard drive without losing data?'
If you are having a similar issue on converting your storage device from exFAT to FAT32, follow through any method below to switch your device file system without losing any data.
'I want to convert an exFAT-formatted USB flash drive to FAT32. I've tried a few links, no success. Is there any software that can help?'
'Is there any way to convert exFAT to FAT 32 on an external hard drive without losing data?'
If you are having a similar issue on converting your storage device from exFAT to FAT32, follow through any method below to switch your device file system without losing any data.
Preparations for Converting exFAT to FAT32
In many cases, you have an SD card, external hard drive, USB flash drive, pen drive, or some other devices with exFAT, but you need to convert it to FAT32 for specific reasons. To protect your data and help you choose the best file system for your storage device, follow through the preparation procedure and tips that we have left here for you.
1. exFAT vs. FAT32, Which Is Better?
Merely a few people know the difference between exFAT and FAT32. Here is a comparison table exFAT vs. FAT32 that you can refer to learn why you should set FAT32 for your removable device.
Comparison | exFAT | FAT32 |
---|---|---|
Compatibility | All Windows OS, modern versions of Mac OS X | All Windows OS, Mac, Linux, game consoles |
Device Supported | Xbox One, PS4 (Not Work on some media players and Android devices) | Video game console, Android USB expansions, media players, and other devices. |
Size Supported | No limit on file size or hard drive size. | 4 GB maximum file size, 8 TB maximum partition size. |
Usage | Sharing large files (larger than 4GB) between OSes, exFAT is the best choice. | Mature file system for USB, flash drives and removable drives. |
For big file transferring and some specific purposed, exFAT will be better. However, as for normal usage on removable devices, including memory card, SD card, USB or flash drive, etc., FAT32 is preferable.
In a word, if you prefer to set your device compatible with all devices and platforms, FAT32 is a good choice.
2. Back-Up Data Before Switching File System from exFAT to FAT32
Once you have decided to convert the exFAT device to FAT32, the next step is to create a backup of your device data.
- If the data size is small, you may directly copy and save them to another device at one time.
- If your saved data is more than 5GB, manually copying is risky and time-consuming.
A safer and more efficient way is to apply reliable backup software to back up all the files at one time.
How to Convert exFAT to FAT32 for Free
In this part, you will be presented with detailed steps of exFAT to FAT32 conversion by using three different methods. Pick up one to swap your USB or SD card to FAT32 now.
- EaseUS exFAT to FAT32 Converter - Free & Efficient Tool for All Levels of Users
- Disk Management - Free Windows Built-in Tool for Beginners
- CMD - Free Windows Built-in Tool & Complex for Beginners
Note: Remember to back up your data in advance as each method requires to format the device for file system conversion. You may lose your device data during the process.
#1. Using EaseUS exFAT to FAT32 Converter
Applicable to all levels of users, beginners' best choice.
EaseUS free partition software - Partition Master is a favorable third-party disk management tool that enables you to convert exFAT to FAT32 with its Format feature easily.
With only a few simple clicks, you may convert your SD card, external hard drive, USB flash drive, pen drive, etc. to FAT32 in Windows 10/8/7.
My cloud desktop client. If you haven't back up data yet, connect the exFAT device to your PC. Then go to the clone disk wizard on EaseUS Partition Master to copy the device data to another disk as a backup.
Step 1: Launch EaseUS Partition Master, right-click the partition you intend to format and choose 'Format'.
Step 2: In the new window, enter the Partition label, choose the FAT32 file system, and set the cluster size according to your needs, then click 'OK'.
Step 3: Then you will see a warning window, click 'OK' in it to continue.
Step 4: Click the 'Execute Operation' button in the top-left corner to review the changes, then click 'Apply' to start formatting the partition to FAT32.
After the conversion, you may now save the backup data back to the FAT32 device or use it for other purposes.
# 2. Format exFAT to FAT32 in Using Disk Management
Applicable for experienced Windows users.
Note that you should be very careful while following the steps below to format exFAT device to FAT32 in Disk Management. Any mistake may result in your device unusable.
Step 1. Connect the exFAT SD card, external hard drive, USB flash drive, pen drive, etc. to your PC.
Step 2. Right-click on Windows icon and select 'Disk Management'.
Step 3. On Disk Management, Right-click on your exFAT USB or external device, select 'Format”.
Step 4. Set the file system to FAT32, tick 'Quick Format' and click 'OK' to confirm.
When the formatting process finishes, your device is ready for saving and transfer files in the FAT32 format.
# 3. Convert exFAT to FAT32 with CMD Formatting Command
Applicable for professional users and IT administrators.
The last approach for exFAT to FAT32 conversion might be challenging for Windows beginners. We would like to suggest experienced users and administrators try this tip.
Note: Be very careful while executing the following operations on your PC.
Step 1. Connect your exFAT device to PC.
Step 2. Right-click the Windows icon and typing command prompt.
Step 3. Right-click Command Prompt and select 'Run as Administrator'.
Step 4. Type diskpart in Command Prompt and hit Enter.
Step 5. Open up DiskPart, type the following command lines, and hit Enter each time:
- list disk
- select disk 0 (Replace 0 with your exFAT device disk number)
- list volume
- select volume 1 (Replace 1 with your exFAT device volume number)
- format fs=fat32 quick
Step 6. when the formatting process finishes, your device is FAT32 now, type exit to close the Diskpart window.
After this, you may apply the FAT32 device to save and transfer files on your computer, game consoles, or media players.
Conclusion
This page includes three free & practical options to assist you in converting exFAT to FAT32.
If you want to convert FAT32 to exFAT, any method on this page will work.
For beginners, EaseUS Partition Master Free is the best option. For experienced or professional IT users, Disk Management and CMD can be a workout.
People Also Ask
Besides converting file system between exFAT and FAT32, some people even have more questions on formatting devices from NTFS to exFAT, FAT32, etc. If you are having these questions, check the quick solutions below.
1. How do I convert exFAT to NTFS?
Basically, the ways to convert exFAT to NTFS is similar to the provided methods on this page. You may apply CMD, Disk Management or third-party EaseUS Partition Master to format the device to NTFS.
For a detailed tutorial, you may refer to this link for help: How to Convert exFAT to NTFS.
2. How do I format a 64GB USB from exFAT to FAT32?
As Windows only allows creating up to 32GB single volume on FAT32 devices, both Disk Management and CMD cannot break the limit to format 64GB USB from exFAT to FAT32.
Fortunately, EaseUS Partition Master has broken the limit. You can simply format a 64GB USB to FAT32 regardless of its original file system is exFAT or NTFS.
3. What is the difference between exFAT, FAT32, and NTFS?
Highlights:
- NTFS is regarded as the most modern file system which is widely used on system drive by default.
- FAT32 owns greater compatibility with other operating systems. Also, FAT32 is current the most widespread one.
- ExFAT is regarded as an alternative file system to replace FAT32, with greater compatibility than NTFS on more devices and operating systems.
Limits:
- NTFS: No file-size or partition size limits.
- FAT32: 4 GB maximum file size, 8 TB maximum partition size.
- ExFAT: No realistic file-size or partition size limits.
Summary :
Do you know how to mount a USB drive in Linux system? In most cases, Linux systems will mount the USB drive automatically. But sometimes, you need to mount USB drive Linux manually. In this post, MiniTool Partition Wizard shows you how to do that and gives you clues on how to make Linux mount USB drive automatically.
Quick Navigation :
Why Need to Mount USB Drive Linux?
If you need to use computers frequently, a USB drive is necessary. If you use a Windows computer, when you plug a USB drive into the computer, the computer will automatically recognize the drive.
Like Windows, most Linux distributions are also configured to automatically recognize and mount USB devices as soon as they are inserted into the USB ports. Ubuntu, for example, automatically mounts a USB device to the /media/USERNAME/ directory.
However, you can still find some older distributions that require external USB devices to be manually mounted before they can be used. Or some Linux server distros require you to mount USB drive manually. In addition, if the automatic mounting function goes wrong, you also need to mount the USB drive manually.
Only when the drive is mounted, can Linux display it. Then, you can access the files in the USB drive.
Formatting USB Drive Linux
Before you mount USB drive Linux, you should format the USB drive to a proper file system. As we all know, some USB drives are preformatted in FAT32, exFAT, or NTFS file system. These file systems are well supported in Windows systems.
However, in Linux systems, FAT32 and exFAT file systems are still supported well but the compatibility with NTFS file system may be not so good.
NTFS file system is a special file system developed by Microsoft. It has become the standard file system of the Windows NT family since Windows NT 3.1. If you want to use NTFS file system in Linux, you should install ntfs-3g package. But even through the package is installed, the NTFS performance in Linux is still not excellent.
Therefore, before mounting the USB drive in Linux, most Linux users would like to format the USB drive to FAT, exFAT, EXT, or other file systems supported by Linux system.
To format the USB drive for Linux, there are 3 ways for you. Please keep reading to get them.
This post introduces Linux file system and Linux directory structure. Synology uk phone number. It can help you understand Linux better.
1. Format the USB Drive Under Linux System
If your computer has only the Linux system installed, this method is very useful to you. Please follow the guide below:
Step 1: Insert the USB drive into the Linux computer and open the command line terminal window with hotkey 'ctrl + alt + T'.
Step 2: Make sure you have installed a tool named 'dosfstools'. If not, please install it with command. Please note that the command varies depending on what OS and package manager you use (it may be 'apt-get install dosfstools', 'pacman -S dosfstools', 'yum install dosfstools -y', etc.).
Step 3: After the dosfstools package is installed, type command 'fdisk -l' to display drive information. From various drives, find out the USB drive and note down its Device information. For example, in the following picture, the USB drive is /dev/sdb1.
Step 4: Format the partition with mkfs command. If you want format it to FAT32, use command 'mkfs.vfat -F 32 /dev/sdb1'. If you want to format it to exFAT or EXT4, use command 'mkfs.exfat /dev/sdb1' or 'mkfs.ext4 /dev/sdb1'.
Note: Before you perform this step, you should make sure the USB drive is in unmounted status indeed.
Further Reading:
Some people may wonder which file system to choose. In my mind, exFAT and EXT4 are better than FAT32, because FAT32 cannot store a single file which is larger than 4GB and it cannot create a FAT32 partition that is larger than 8 TB (Windows only recognizes 2TB).
As for exFAT vs EXT4, they have their own advantages and disadvantages. For example, exFAT has better compatibility, but in Linux, EXT4 has better performance.
Here is the full guide of NTFS vs FAT32 vs exFAT. Check out this post to know the differences.
2. Format the USB Drive Under Windows System
As the mainstream OS is still Windows, many people would like to dual boot Windows and Linux systems. If you adopt this dual-boot mode, too, you can format the USB drive under the Windows system.
To format the USB drive for Linux, I recommend you to use MiniTool Partition Wizard, a professional disk management program. This software allows you to format the USB drive to FAT, exFAT, or EXT4 for free. Here is the guide:
Step 1: Download MiniTool Partition Wizard Free Edition and launch this software. Go to its main interface, right-click the partition on USB flash drive, and choose Format from the context menu.
Step 2: In the Format Partition window, choose FAT32, exFAT or Ext4 file system, and then click OK button.
Step 3: Click Apply Animal crossing release date us. button to carry out the pending operations.
Of course, if you just want to format the USB drive to FAT32 or exFAT file system, you can also use Windows built-in tools. For example, you can format it in File Explorer, or you can format it in Disk Management.
- If you want to format it in File Explorer, you just need to open File Explorer, highlight This PC, right-click the USB flash drive, and choose . option.
- If you want to format it in Disk Management, you need to press Windows key + R, type 'msc' in the Run box, press Enter key to open Disk Management, right-click on the USB flash drive partition, click Format.. option, and then follow the on-screen wizard to format the drive.
After formatting the USB drive to a proper file system, you need to shut down Windows system and boot the Linux system to make Linux mount USB drive.
How to Mount a USB Drive in Linux
To mount a USB drive in Linux, you can use command lines to mount the USB drive temporarily or permanently. You can also write scripts to make Linux mount USB drive automatically. It depends on your choice.
Mount/Unmount USB Drive Manually
To mount USB drive Linux, you can refer to the following steps:
Step 1: Insert the USB drive and Linux system will detect the drive. Then, you should open the command line terminal window, type command 'fdisk -l', and note down the Device information of the USB drive (in this post, the USB drive is /dev/sdb1).
Step 2: Determine the mount point on which the USB drive is mounted. The mount point can be an existing one. But you can also create a new mount point with mkdir command, for example, 'mkdir /media/usb-drive'.
Step 3: Make Linux mount USB drive on the newly-created mount point with command 'mount /dev/sdb1 /media/usb-drive/'. However, this command is temporary. If the computer reboots, you should remount the USB drive. To mount the USB drive permanently, you can use the following commands:
Usb Drive Ntfs Or Fat32
- blkid /dev/sdb1. This command will tell you UUID (Universally Unique Identifier) of the USB drive. Note down UUID for future use.
- vi /etc/fstab. This command allows you to modify /etc/fstab file (static file system information). The /etc/fstab file provides information about the Linux file system. It defines how storage devices and partitions are initialized and how they are connected to the entire system.
- In the /etc/fstab config file, add line: 'UUID=11263962-9715-473f-9421-0b604e895aaa /media/usb-drive ext4 defaults 0 2'. In this command line, you should change UUID, USB mount point, and file system type accordingly.
After your work is completed, you may want to remove the USB drive. Then, you should unmount the USB drive before ejecting the drive. Here is the command: umount /media/usb-drive.
This post shows you how to install Kali Linux on VirtualBox, VMware, USB, and Windows 10.
Mount/Unmount USB Drive Automatically
If you want to make Linux mount and unmount the USB drive automatically (without changing Linux distro), you can use UDEV to complete that. It's what automatically configures the proper devices and device symlinks (eg /dev/disk/by-label/<LABEL>), both at boot time and for devices added while the system is running.
Using UDEV to make Linux mount and unmount the USB drive automatically is slightly complicated, because it requires you to write some scripts. But if you want to configure that indeed, you can refer to the answer from superuser forum to write your own scripts.
Bottom Line
Is this post useful to you? Do you have other methods to mount USB drive Linux? Do you have any doubts about the above Linux mount USB drive process? Please leave a comment below for sharing and discussion. In addition, if you have difficulty in formatting the USB drive, please contact us via [email protected]. We will get back to you as soon as possible.
Mount USB Drive Linux FAQ
Format Large Usb To Fat32
- Type command 'fdisk -l' and note down the Device information of the USB drive.
- Type command 'mkdir /media/usb-drive' to create a mount point named usb-drive. Of course, you can skip this step, if you want to mount the USB drive under an existing empty directory.
- Type command 'mount /dev/sdb1 /media/usb-drive/' to mount the USB drive /dev/sdb1 under the directory usb-drive.
If your Linux system can mount a USB drive automatically, in general, the drive will be mounted under /media/username/device-label. If you need to need to mount the USB drive manually, you can mount the drive under any empty directory. But I still recommend you to mount it under /media or /mnt directory.
Usb Drive Fat Vs Fat32
To access your external hard drive on Linux, you need to mount the drive first. Most Linux distros will mount the USB drive automatically, but some distros may need you to mount it manually.
Fat Vs Fat32 Usb Port
After that, you can view contents in the USB drive via a file manager or via command like 'cd /mnt'. The command 'cd' is the abbreviation of Change Directory, which is a command used to switch the working directory.