FAT32 is a great file system, but it has some limitations. One of the limitations is that it doesn’t allow you to store files larger than 4GB. People who wanted to store files larger than this size moved on to other formats, such as NTFS, that allows really large files to be stored on their hard drive.
Some video doorbells require that your storage devices be in the FAT32 format, which is still in use today.
Format An External Hard Drive To FAT32 Using Command Prompt
Windows users can still use FAT32 formatting to store their hard drives, even if they don’t see the option in the user interface. The Command Prompt utility can help you find and use it to do the task.
How To Use It
This method requires you to run a few commands and your hard drive will be formatted in the desired file system.
Plug in your external hard drive to your computer. Open the Start menu, type “cmd” and press Enter. In the command prompt window, type: diskpart list disk select disk 0 ..
diskpart
To list out all the available hard drives on your machine, enter the following command: disk. ..
To determine the size of your external hard drive, run the following command: select disk size To format your external hard drive, run the following command: format N ..
create partition primary select partition 1active format fs=fat32 assignexit
Your computer should now be able to use FAT32 file systems.
Using PowerShell In Windows 10 To Format An External Hard Drive To FAT32
Windows 10 users can use PowerShell to format the external hard drive to the FAT32 format. You may be familiar with this utility if you’ve been using a Windows 10 PC for some time. To do this, you need to first create a new instance of PowerShell. Then, open the new PowerShell window and type: Format-FAT32 external hard drive
How To Use It
Press the Windows + X keys simultaneously and a menu will pop-up. Click on Windows PowerShell (Admin) in the newly opened menu.
Format /FS:FAT32 D: on my hard drive
Your computer will format your external hard drive to the FAT32 file system. It will tell you when it’s done. In most cases, it should take a few minutes, but it also depends on how large your external hard drive is. ..
Use FAT32Format To Format Your External Hard Drives
This utility is great for quickly formatting external hard drives to FAT32, as it allows you to do so without having to go through the hassle of formatting each drive individually.
This tool is ideal for those who don’t like running commands and prefer tools with a simple user interface. A great thing about this tool is that you don’t even need to install it on your computer - it just works straight out of the box. ..
How To Use It
Head over to the FAT32Format website and download the tool. Connect your external hard drive to your computer if it isn’t already. Double-click on the downloaded file and the tool will launch. Here are the options you need to specify before you can format the drive: Drive – choose your external hard drive from this dropdown menu. Allocation unit size – leave it to the default values. Volume label – enter a name for your hard drive. Quick Format – it’s suggested to leave this unticked if you’re not sure. Then hit the Start button to begin formatting your hard drive. ..
You can see the progress in the white box.
Format An exFAT External Hard Drive To FAT32 With EaseUS
EaseUS Partition Master Free is a disk formatting tool that can also be used to create, delete, and clone partitions. This makes it an ideal tool for users who want to create multiple partitions on their hard drive in order to have more control over their data.
How To Use It
Format the hard drive to FAT32.
-Partition label – enter a name for your drive. -File system – select FAT32. -Cluster size – leave it as is.
If you have not received a notification after formatting the drive, please check your email and spam folders. If you still do not see the notification, please contact customer service. ..
Conclusion
The popularity and use of FAT32 is slowly fading away, but there are still a few occasions where this format is a must. For those rare situations, you have various ways as shown above to get your existing hard drives converted to the FAT32 format. ..
