Microsoft is finally bidding farewell to the 32GB size limit that has plagued FAT32 partitions in Windows for almost three decades. With an upcoming update, Windows 11 will allow users to create FAT32 partitions up to a whopping 2TB in size. This change, however, is initially limited to formatting disks using the command line format command. The familiar format dialog box will continue to enforce the 32GB limit until Microsoft updates it in future releases.
The 32GB limit was first imposed during the development of Windows 95, a decision that has been a thorn in the side of Windows users for years. Former Windows developer Dave Plummer, who designed the format dialog box, recently shed light on the reason behind the arbitrary limit. He explained that the decision was made to limit “cluster slack”, a technical detail that ultimately constrained the maximum size of a FAT volume. This seemingly insignificant decision has had a lasting impact on how we use and format storage devices.
While Windows has always supported reading FAT32 partitions up to 2TB, creating them within the operating system has required third-party tools. This update eliminates the need for such workarounds. However, it’s important to note that while the partition limit is increasing, the individual file size limit on a FAT32 volume remains at 4GB.
Although FAT32 is less common nowadays, it’s still used for devices like USB drives and SD cards. This update is a welcome change for users who need to format these devices with larger partitions. The update is expected to roll out soon, bringing an end to the long-standing 32GB FAT32 limitation and ushering in a new era of flexibility for Windows 11 users.
