![]() Next, right-click on the drive on the left hand side of the File Explorer window and click "Format": With that out of the way, plug your USB drive into your computer and open Windows File Explorer. If your USB drive is larger than 32 GB, check out one of the later methods. How to use Windows File Explorer to format a USB drive to FAT32Ī quick note about this method: it only works on USB flash drives that are less that 32 GB. In fact, make two backups, and keep one on a remote service like Google Drive or Dropbox.įormatting a drive will delete all of the data that's currently on it. Important note: Before you format a drive, make sure that you backup all of your important files. If you're sure you want to go with FAT32, here's how to format a storage drive on Windows 10. But you'd need to be sure that none of those files are greater than 4 GB. For example, if you need to boot up an old computer, maybe with a different operating system, and backup some of its files. These days, the only reason why you'd choose to format a drive to FAT32 is for compatibility. ![]() Also, it's a little more difficult to format a drive larger than 32 GB to FAT32 on Windows 10. On the other hand, FAT32's max file size of 4 GB is almost nothing now that phones can record 4K videos. (But it would be nice to have a 128 PB USB drive, wouldn't it?) Note that the maximum drive and file size of NTFS and ExFAT is so large that there's basically no limit. ** 1 exabyte is about 1 million terabytes * 1 petabyte is about 1 thousand terabytes However, though FAT32 is well supported, its maximum drive and file size is severely limited when compared to newer formats like NTFS and ExFAT: Meanwhile, macOS can only read NTFS drives, and you would need to install third-party software to write back to the drive. Every major operating system will allow you to read and write from a USB flash drive that's formatted to FAT32. Of those three common formats, FAT32 is the oldest and most widely supported. ![]() Some of the most common file system formats for portable storage devices are FAT32, NTFS, and ExFAT. What's a file system?Ī file system is a standardized way of organizing data on a computer storage device like a flash drive or HDD.Ī file system divides a storage device into virtual compartments, almost like a wall of post office boxes, and keeps track of all the information that gets stored in each box. In this article we'll go over what a file system is, the FAT32 standard, and several ways to format a storage device to FAT32 on Windows 10. It may also be caused by malware (namely ransomware) or inadvertently with encryption tools.If you need to format a USB flash drive, HDD, SDD, or some other form of storage to FAT32, you've come to the right place. It may be intentional, as the owner might have enabled the read-only feature of the device to secure its contents. The error can be caused caused by a number of things. The write protection error appears when you try to copy or modify the contents of a storage device that is write protected. Write protection configures a drive such to prevent any new data from being written to it. What Is the Write Protect Error and What Causes It? So what's causing it, and how do you remove this error? Today we'll find out. If all else fails, formatting the drive may be necessary.ĭid you get a "disk is write protected" error when trying to copy files or format your drive? This can be a troublesome issue. Advanced users can use the Registry Editor to remove write protection by creating a DWORD entry and modifying its value data to disable write protection.You can try toggling the lock switch on your storage device or use the DiskPart utility to disable the read-only attribute and clear the write protection. ![]() It can be intentional, caused by malware, or due to encryption tools. Write protection prevents new data from being written to a storage device.
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