MS DOS FAT vs FAT32 vs ExFAT: How to Format a Disk to Them

How to Format a Drive in macOS

In Disk Utility, you can format a disk to APFS, Mac OS Extended, Windows NT Filesystem, MS DOS (FAT), MS-DOS (FAT32), and ExFAT. If the disk is an external drive and you want to use it on both Windows and macOS, MS DOS (FAT), MS-DOS (FAT32), and ExFAT are recommended.

To format a drive on macOS, you can follow the guide below:

1. Open your Applications folder and click Utilities.
2. Open Disk Utility and click View in the top left corner of the window.
3. Select Show All Devices.
4. In the sidebar, select the disk you want to format.
5. Click the Erase button in the toolbar.
6. In the Erase dialog, click the Scheme pop-up menu, and then choose a partition scheme (GUID Partition Map, Master Boot Record, or Apple Partition Map). Note that the Apple Partition Map scheme is not compatible with Windows.
7. Click the Format pop-up menu, and then choose a file system (APFS, Mac OS Extended, Windows NT Filesystem, MS DOS (FAT), MS-DOS (FAT32), or ExFAT).
8. Enter a name for the volume. The maximum length for the volume name is 11 characters.
9. Click Erase, and then click Done.

FAT vs. FAT32: What’s the Difference Between Them?

MS DOS FAT vs FAT32 vs ExFAT

Some people may want to know about MS DOS FAT vs FAT32 and MS DOS FAT vs ExFAT. In this part, I will introduce MS DOS FAT vs FAT32 vs ExFAT to you.

• MS-DOS (FAT): It usually refers to FAT16. It can’t be used on a drive that is 4GB or larger.
• MS-DOS (FAT32): It refers to FAT32. It can’t be used on a drive that is 32GB or larger.
• ExFAT: If the size of the disk is over 32 GB, this format is generally recommended. In addition, FAT16 and FAT32 can’t store files larger than 4GB. Therefore, if the drive will contain files that are 4GB or larger, ExFAT is also recommended.

How to Convert FAT (16) to FAT32 Without Data Loss

Further Reading:

1. Theoretically, the max partition size of FAT16 is 2GB (with 32KB clusters), 4GB (with 64KB clusters), 8GB (with 128KB clusters and 512-byte, 1 or 2KB sectors), and 16 GB (with 256KB clusters and 2 or 4KB sectors).
2. Theoretically, the max partition size of FAT32 is 2TB (with 512-byte sectors), 8TB (with 2KB sectors and 32KB clusters), and 16TB (with 4KB sectors and 64KB clusters).

How Do I Change Cluster size FAT32 Without Formatting

Bottom Line

MiniTool Partition Wizard can help you clone the system, manage disks better, and recover data. If you have this need, you can download it from the official website.