Microsoft Removes Arbitrary FAT32 Limitation in Windows

Microsoft announced that remove FAT32 partition size limitation in Windows. The tech giant will end the 32GB ban that has been in place for more than three decades, allowing users to format a larger drive. The feature will be available in the next Windows 11 update.

The company confirmed that FAT32 size limit increased to 2 TB. Those who want to format a hard drive or flash drive will be able to do so without using an external tool. Support for this feature is now available in the latest version of Windows 11 Insider Canary, although with one catch.

While this news may be disturbing to some, the 2TB limitation for FAT32 only available via command line. This means that if you want to format a FAT32 partition larger than 32GB, you will have to open a command prompt window and enter the command formatThose who use the Windows 11 formatting tool will not be able to take advantage of the new limitation.

Microsoft hasn’t said whether it plans to implement this feature in the operating system’s interface. Since this is a Windows Insider Canary build, it’s likely that the tech company will want to test its functionality through CMD. The new FAT32 restriction will appear later in the Beta and Preview channels before it makes it to the stable version used by the general public.

Although Microsoft has said goodbye to 32GB in FAT32, the maximum file size is maintained no changes. You can format a disk up to 2 TB, but you will not be able to copy files larger than 4GBIn this case, the only solution is to change the file system to NTFS or exFAT.

Windows Removes Arbitrary FAT32 Limitation

Solution to remove FAT32 partition size limitation. It’s been nearly 30 years since the file system debuted in Windows 95.Although it is possible to partition 32 GB using external applications, Windows does not allow you to do this using operating system tools.

Months ago, Dave Plummer, Microsoft veteran and creator of Task Manager, offered some details about FAT32. The person responsible for developing the Format feature in Windows said that the disk format dialog box retains the original design from 1994.

“I wrote that dialog on a rainy Thursday morning at Microsoft in late 1994, I think, and that’s what it was,” Plummer said. “It wasn’t elegant, but that was until elegant user interfaces came along.”

This morning, the developer also decided how big the “cluster gap” would be, limiting the size of FAT32 to 32GB. Plummer said that this limit was an arbitrary decision. One that has remained “as a permanent side effect” in Windows until today.