It mainly has these variants: FAT12, FAT16, FAT32, exFAT, FATX, and FAT+, depending on the disk drive capacity. It is the default file system for MS-DOS and Windows 9x OSs. It is a file system co-developed by Microsoft, IBM, and some other companies, originally released in 1977.

exFAT is a variant of the FAT file system.įAT is the abbreviation of File Allocation Table. It is mainly used for flash storage devices like USB flash drives, SD cards, and some other portable devices. It is a file system also introduced by Microsoft in 2006. It is initially released in 1993 and used for most Windows versions, starting from Windows NT 3.1 to Windows 11.ĮxFAT is short for Extensible File Allocation Table. It is a proprietary file system format developed by Microsoft. NTFS is short for New Technology File System. Via Disk Format from File Explorer on WindowsĪlso Read: 8 Fixes for External Hard Drive Not Showing up on Mac (Ventura) NTFS vs exFAT vs FAT32 vs APFS – Definition.How to Format a Drive to NTFS/exFAT/FAT32/APFS.NTFS vs exFAT vs FAT32 vs APFS – Which One to Choose.NTFS vs exFAT vs FAT32 vs APFS – Differences.NTFS vs exFAT vs FAT32 vs APFS – Definition.Which file system format to choose? NTFS vs exFAT vs FAT32 vs APFS file system, what are their differences? You can continue to check the analysis below.

You may see NTFS, exFAT, FAT32, APFS, and some other options. When formatting a hard drive, you are asked to choose a file system format for the hard disk. Summary: NTFS vs exFAT vs FAT32 vs APFS, what’s the difference between these four file system formats? Check the analysis in this post to decide which file system to use when formatting or reformatting a hard drive.Ī file system controls how data is stored and organized in your storage device.

Formatter fat32