Best answer: Format the USB drive to FAT32 or NTFS

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Seemingly ubiquitous among modern computer users, the USB flash drive (thumb drive or USB stick) is a compact and moderately spacious portable storage device. But what are they used for? Generally, we use USB drives to transfer files between operating systems and devices, or to create a bootable USB drive to start up a malfunctioning or crashed computer.

To fully leverage the capacity and performance of a USB drive, formatting it with a suitable, compatible, and efficient file system is crucial. Do you know which file system is best suited for your USB drive? Should you format your USB flash drive as FAT32 or NTFS when the option arises?

Using the free partition manager is your best choice to format USB drive to FAT32 or NTFS in Windows 10/8/7:

Here, we will explain the reasons and answer whether you should format USB drive to FAT32 or NTFS with the best USB formatting tool.

What's the Difference Between FAT32 and NTFS?

When it comes to making the final choice between FAT32 and NTFS for your USB flash drive, which one would you choose? Here are the details about them.

• FAT32 is a simple file system with a long history, making it compatible with all operating systems.
• In contrast, NTFS is more powerful and efficient than FAT, as it employs advanced data structures to enhance reliability, disk space utilization, and overall performance.
• While NTFS is increasingly prevalent, FAT32 remains more widely used.

Moreover, while FAT32 can be converted to NTFS, it is becoming increasingly difficult to convert back, owing to NTFS's superior security, file-level compression, disk-quota, and file-encryption features.

Don't miss: Format USB with FAT32 or NTFS for Free

FAT32 or NTFS? Which One Should You Choose?

When choosing a file system to format your USB drive, the most important aspects to consider are portability and file size limitations, which will help you make your decision.

From the comparison table, you can see that FAT32 is supported by virtually all operating systems; however, it can't transfer or store single files larger than 4 GB & the maximum volume size should be less than 2 TB. NTFS, on the other hand, seems to have no limitations when dealing with large files and volume sizes.

In short, choose your own format: it's a free country.

Choose FAT32 if you need to use the USB with an older computer or a non-PC system, like a digital photo frame, TV, printer, or projector, because it's more universal. It's also a good choice if you're using multiple different operating systems on the same computer.

If you use your USB drive as a backup drive for a Windows computer, to store high-definition videos, movies, pictures, and other large files, and need high security, choose NTFS.

What is the best USB formatting tool?

With your choice made according to the above guidelines, it's time to format your USB drive with the file system you want. Whether it's a brand new flash drive or an old one, you can use a free USB formatting tool to format your USB drive as either FAT32 or NTFS.

Actually, taking Windows as an example, there are several ways to format a disk, such as using File Explorer, Disk Management, and Command Prompt. Here, instead of introducing these methods, we recommend a third-party Windows USB formatting tool – AOMEI Partition Assistant Free, which can largely solve issues like "Format option is greyed out" and "Windows was unable to complete the format". More importantly, this third-party software is free, user-friendly, powerful, and capable of converting FAT32 to NTFS without data loss, which cannot be done by the above programs.

Guide 1: Format USB to FAT32 and NTFS

Step 1: Select the USB drive you want to format.

Plug your USB drive or flash drive into your computer. Download and launch a partitioning tool. Right-click the USB drive you want to format, then select “Format.”

Step 2: Assign the USB drive letter and file system.

Assign a new label, file system (NTFS/FAT32/EXT2/EXT3/EXT4/exFAT) and cluster size for the selected partition, then click “OK”.

Step 3: Check the box next to “Yes, format the USB.”

If a warning message appears, click Yes. Back up your data beforehand if it contains important information.

Step 4: Apply the changes.

First, click on the “Execute 1 Task(s)” button, and then click on “Format USB Drive” to format the drive.

# Guide 2: Convert FAT32 USB to NTFS Without Losing Data

Step 1. Install and launch Partition Master on your computer.

Step 2. In the Partition Manager, right-click on a FAT32 partition and select Advanced, then Convert to NTFS.

<Step 3> Click on “Proceed” to continue in the dialog box that appears.

Step 4: Click the "Apply" button to start the conversion process. Wait for it to finish.

What is a file system?

A file system can be thought of as an index or database that keeps track of where every piece of data is stored on a drive. The structure and logical rules that manage the allocation of data blocks and their naming are called a file system.

Whether you're on a Windows computer, Mac, smartphone, Xbox, or just about anywhere else that stores data, a specific type of file system is needed to read from, write to, store, and organize data on various storage media like flash drives, memory cards, portable USB drives, hard disk drives (HDD), or solid-state drives (SSD). In short, without the right file system, these mediums become completely useless since your device won't be able to recognize them.

There are numerous different file systems, each with its own structure and logic, featuring characteristics such as speed, flexibility, security, and size. Here are some of the most commonly used and recognized file systems on mainstream operating systems:

Don't miss: Free FAT32 and NTFS Formatters for USB

NTFS: (NT File System) This is the default file system for all versions of Windows.

HFS+: The default file system for versions of macOS.

APFS: (Apple File System, an Apple-designed file system) Introduced with iOS 10.3 and macOS 10.13 to replace HFS+.

FAT32: An older Windows file system standard, predating NTFS.

exFAT: (Extended File Allocation Table) Developed as an evolution of FAT32, it provides a lightweight system without all the extra overhead of NTFS.
EXT2, 3 & 4: (Extended File System) Originally created specifically for Linux.

Conclusions

On this page, we answer the question of whether you should format a USB flash drive to FAT32 or NTFS. The best practice is to set the file system to the one required for your needs on the USB drive.

When converting file systems, you might need a reliable file system converter or USB formatting tool to help out. AOMEI Partition Assistant and its Format and Convert to FAT/NTFS feature can meet your needs, setting the desired file system format for your USB drive with just a few simple clicks.

If you found this page helpful, please consider sharing it with others who may be confused about FAT32 or exFAT formatting as well.

Frequently Asked Questions about FAT32 or NTFS for USB

For more information about formatting a USB drive as FAT32 or NTFS, read on and find the answers here:

1. Should I format my USB drive as NTFS?

The answer is no, as long as the files you save are smaller than 4 GB. You only really need NTFS on a USB drive when you have files larger than 4 GB that you need to store on it.

**2. What format is best for USB?**

For USBs with 32GB or less, the ideal file system format is FAT32. When the USB storage capacity increases to 64GB or more, the best format type is exFAT.

When you need to switch the file system between FAT32 and NTFS on a USB drive or other storage device without formatting, you can turn to reliable FAT32 to NTFS file system conversion software or tools. AOMEI Partition Assistant and its "Convert to NTFS" feature can meet your needs. It allows you to freely and efficiently switch the file system from FAT32 to NTFS on various types of storage devices without formatting.