Microsoft has removed the legacy limit of the 32GB size for FAT32 partitions in the latest Windows 11 Canary release. Now you can create partitions of 2TB natively. Earlier, you could do the same but with help of third-party tools. Starting in Build 27686, the inbox console "format" command supports the large volume size for FAT32.
"When formatting drives from the command line using the format command, we've increased the FAT32 size limit from 32GB to 2TB," the Windows Insider team said.
Windows is able to read such a large partition, but couldn't earlier create it. Now it can:
Once the change reaches the Stable channel and becomes widely available, all Windows 11 users will be able to use the format command to create partitions up to 2 TB.
Historically, the 32GB limit was hardcoded in the drive format dialog. It was part of the quick and dirty UI implementation which was accepted and released into production. The irony is that it remained hardcoded for decades.
Sadly, it is hard to imagine one using FAT32 in 2024 for a general task. It is not reliable as a storage FS, and still has various limitations. But it is better late than never.
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“Sadly, it is hard to imagine one using FAT32 in 2024 for a general task.”
I use mine in the vehicle for music, all the time. 128GB FAT32 pendrive, sweetly playing lossless tracks. I add tracks quite frequently. It also proves to be more convenient for Mac Windows file transfers. Some ISOs perform better too. It’s just less problematic and more compatible than an NTFS one, albeit slower and 4GB filesize limited.
Basically, the FAT32 pendrive is compatible with all my computer systems, but also my car. No other filesystem can do this.
I think it’s good to keep old technology available and the general push, we see these days, to squash old things just makes no sense. I’ll give you an example. About 3 decades ago power cords for tape recorders used to come in the same shape that the Mac mini uses today. It really comes down to a best use case scenario.
One prop I’ll give you is… why so late (insert Jackie Chan head grab meme here)
:)