How to convert FAT32 to exFAT for external drive like USB flash drive? Read this article and you can find out a proper way to format drive from FA32 to exFAT on Windows 10, 8, 7.
“I have a 64GB USB flash drive with FAT32 file system and I want to use it as a data backup device. But when I tried to copy my 4.32GB film file to it, the message that the file “xxx” is too large for the destination file system appeared. It seems that the problem is with the file system of my USB flash drive and what kind of file system should I format the drive to? Is there any suggestion?”
As the scenario described, FAT32 formatted drive doesn’t support file larger than 4GB. If you want to store a file whose size is beyond 4GB, you have to convert your drive from FAT32 to NTFS or exFAT. All of the two file systems can meet your demand to support file larger than 4GB, and you can make a decision after realizing the other properties listed below of the two file systems:
NTFS takes advantages in data security, read and writing speed and it is widely used for internal hard drive. As for compatibility, NTFS file system is fully supported by Windows XP and later versions like Windows 11/10 and it can be used on Microsoft Xbox one.
exFAT is a new file system launched in 2006. It makes up for the defect of FAT32 in file size and partition size. What’s more, it enjoys nice compatibility and can work on almost all versions of Windows and Mac OS X. It is compatible with PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
All in all, if what you need is just to store file beyond 4GB, NTFS and exFAT can be your choice. And if you format your drive to exFAT, it allows you to transfer large files between Mac OS X and Windows installed computers as well. Thus, it is the best solution to convert drive from FAT32 to exFAT file system.
It is fairly simple to convert FAT32 to exFAT for external drive like USB flash drive and the following part will present three methods for you to format external drive to exFAT on Windows 11/10/8/7 in length. And before you start the operation, you need to pay attention to the following things:
When the version of your Mac OS X is older than 10.6.5, exFAT file system is not suitable.
Plug your drive to a working computer and make sure it can be detected by the operating system.
Back up data in advance that you care about before the operation if you want to convert FAT32 to exFAT without losing data because formatting will erase everything.
In general, you are able to format flash drive from FAT32 to exFAT effortlessly and effectively in Windows File Explorer. The detailed steps are listed below (Take formatting USB flash drive to exFAT in Windows 10 as an example):
Step 1. Double click “This PC” to open File Explorer.
Step 2. Located your USB flash drive in the listed drives, right-click it, and choose “Format”.
Step 3. Here you can choose exFAT from the file system list. Then click on “Start” button.
Notice: If you are unable to find out your external drive in File Explorer, you can enter Disk Management to manage the external drive.
If you are familiar with Diskpart command lines, you can choose to format external hard drive or flash drive via Diskpart tool. The instruction is presented as follows:
Step 1. Press “Windows + R”, type “diskpart” and click “OK” to run Diskpart as administrator.
Step 2. Type commands below in order and hit “Enter” after every command.
“list disk”>“select disk n”>“list partition”>“select partition m”>“format fs=exfat”
PS: “n” is the number of the external drive and “m” is the number of the external drive partition
Then the whole formatting progress will be finished within few times. You can type “exit” and press “Enter” to exit Diskpart.
In most cases, Windows File Explorer and Diskpart utility can help you to format external drive to exFAT. There are chances that these tools are unable to format external hard drive or flash drive to exFAT out of certain reasons like write protection, file system corruption, etc.
Keep calm and give a chance to the great FAT32 to exFAT converter – AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard. This free and reliable tool is able to allow you to change FAT32 file system to exFAT within few steps. To convert FAT32 to exFAT successfully and securely, you can download it and follow the tutorial below (take format FAT32-formatted SD card to exFAT as an example).
Step 1. Install and launch AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard. Right click the targeted drive and choose “Format Partition”.
Step 2. Choose exFAT from the File System drop-down menu. If you need, you can add Partition Label and specify Cluster Size.
Step 3. Click “Apply” to perform the operation.
With those three different methods, you can successfully convert FAT32 to exFAT on Windows 10, 8, 7. To format drive from FAT3 to exFAT without losing data. Backup is necessary before conversion. If you want to convert FATF32 to NTFS without data loss, AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard can also meet your needs.
To enjoy more functions, such as quick partition, partition recovery, split partition, convert boot disk between MBR and GPT without losing data, you can upgrade to AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional.