FAT32 Formatter does actually exist for Windows 10 PC, you can actually format a 64/128/256GB SD Card in the FAT32 file system without choosing either exFAT (Default) or NTFS format mode. There are advantages and disadvantages of using any of these methods, but if you do not want your memory card to be restricted to working on some devices, then you must format to FAT32, this supports almost all devices. Today, iTechviral will tell you why FAT32 Formatter in Windows 10 is the best, my experience, and how to format over 32GB SD Card in Windows even though the option is not available.
What is FAT32 Format?
FAT32 is an older file system that’s not as efficient as NTFS and doesn’t support as big a feature set, it is mainly used for external drives but works perfectly well on all devices such as your Windows 10 PC, Mobile devices, TVs like LG and so on. It is very much readable by most devices, It’s now 19 years later, USB flash drives, SD cards, and other removable drives still using FAT32, so formatting it with NTFS or exFAT will result in some devices not recognizing the SD Card.
So Why FAT32 Format SD Card?
FAT32 doesn’t allow you to send more than 4GB file in size, you will have to send the 4GB file one after the other, this means if you have a video of 5GB, it will not be able to transfer to the SD Card, but with NTFS or exFAT, you can do much more than that, but that comes with the expenses of some devices seeing the SD Card as corrupted whereas it isn’t. But the main benefit of using FAT32 is it supports more devices and it is very portable, major operating systems support it.
Microsoft Windows is yet to include an option to FAT32 Format an SD Card on its an operating system, rather the only options you can see when initiating a format are exFAT and NTFS file type. From my experience, if you exFAT format, Windows and Mobile phones will recognize the sd card, but not TV, while if you NTFS format the SD Card, TVs and Windows will support it, but it won’t work on your mobile device as it will be detected as corrupted. Now trying to format your SD card with your phone will result in it being stuck at 20%, in most cases your device will restart.
How To Format USB Drives Larger than 32GB With FAT32 Windows 10
To be sincere, I have seen some unverified information on the internet saying you can use partition software to format a 64/128/256GB Memory card. I always thought the tutorial will work, eventually, I tested it and it didn’t have the option to format it with FAT32 in Windows 10. I could only confirm a few methods that actually work, which is using a power shell that takes almost a day for 256GB to format. But there is working software that does that, also other methods that can be used with the command prompt.
You Can check this out: How To Check PC Specs On Windows 10 (System Information)
#1. GUIFormat
This software remains the best and easiest method to format SD Card that is larger than 32GB, it works even on a 256GB memory card. This takes just 6 seconds to change the SD card file system, all you need to do is install the software, choose the SD card path alphabet, and then ‘start‘ formatting it. After doing this, the SD card will be converted from NTFS (NT File System) to FAT32, or from exFAT to FAT32. Make sure you do not change the default volume label for FAT32 that is 4096.
#2. PowerShell
According to Microsoft, PowerShell is a cross-platform task automation and configuration management framework, consisting of a command-line shell and scripting language. It will be used for our second step on this tutorial, so below are the guides.
- Right-click on the WINDOWS icon and choose ‘Windows PowerShell Admin’.
- Now Type the command
format /FS:FAT32 X:
– Replace latter X with your SD Card drive letter, it can be seen on Windows File Explorer.
– To make the formatting faster, type this instead/FS:FAT32 /X /Q X: - Hit ENTER to begin the formatting.
So this will take time, but when it has been done, then you can check the SD Card properties to confirm it worked. This was always the best method used until a new one was discovered using the #1 on the steps.
#3. CMD Command Prompt Diskpart
Command Prompt is also a command line, it can be used to access the USB drive and then format the SD Card. We are using the Diskpart command to FAT32 Format SD Card from NTSF or exFAT format.
Related CMD Usage: How To Find Your PC’s Serial Number With Command Prompt
- Search and open Command Prompt on your Windows 10 as Administrator.
- Type ‘
Diskpart‘ and hit Enter. - Next, Type
List Diskand hit enter as well. - From the list of disk currently on your computer, select the USB Drive number with
select disk 1.
– Most times it will be [1] if your PC uses just one hard drive without SSD or external drive.
– Check the allocated file size to confirm what you are formatting before your HDD is formatted mistakenly.
– If it is not one, change it to, that easy. - You can now type List Volume and hit Enter.
– You can use this means to see other drives if they are working properly or not. - Next type the drive volume you wish to change its file format with
select volume 1.
– Again, the number depends on the card, check the size to confirm, it should be ‘Removable’ Type. - Now type format
FS/: FAT32 X:
– Again, replace X with the drive letter, please don’t make the mistake of not replacing it. - Wait for it to FAT32 Format SD Card/UBSB Drive and then check properties to see the difference.
Both the Powershell and Command prompt process are quite long and time-consuming, so this leaves method one to be the best FAT32 formatter for Windows 10. Any brand of Windows can rely on this method to work, all memory card will be converted to FAT32 using these methods. So I guess it worked! Why not share this post with your friends, I also welcome questions and comments, check out our other cool articles, I am sure you won’t regret this website.
