- How to Format a Drive with FAT32
- Steps to Format a USB Drive or SD Card with Rufus:
- What is Fat32
- FAT32 Size Limitations
- FAT32 Pros and Cons
- TL;DR:
How to Format a Drive with FAT32
Tools like Rufus are commonly used to create bootable drives for operating system installations, but they can also be used for formatting USB sticks and memory cards.
Steps to Format a USB Drive or SD Card with Rufus:
Start the formatting process. Rufus will display a warning that all data on the drive will be erased—confirm to proceed.
- Download Rufus – No installation required, just run the file.
- Connect your USB stick or memory card to your computer.
- Open Rufus and select the drive you want to format.
- Under Boot selection, choose “Non-bootable” to format the drive without making it bootable.
- Select the File System – You can choose from FAT32, NTFS, UDF, exFAT, or Large FAT32 (for drives larger than 32GB).
- Start the formatting process. Rufus will display a warning that all data on the drive will be erased—confirm to proceed.
What is Fat32
FAT32 is a file system used for USB drives and memory cards to store and manage data. Developed by Microsoft in 1996, it is supported by most operating systems and devices, making it a widely used format.
FAT32 Size Limitations
By default, Windows only allows formatting drives up to 32GB in FAT32. To format larger drives, third-party tools like Rufus are required.
FAT32 Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Compatible with older devices and nearly all operating systems
Cons:
- Maximum file size limited to 4GB
TL;DR:
- Download Rufus
- Connect USB drive or SD card
- Open Rufus => Select drive
- Boot Selection => Choose “Non-bootable”
- File System => Select FAT32 or Large FAT32 (for drives ≥32GB)
- Start formatting
