How to Format USB Flash Drive to FAT32 (for 32/64/128GB...)

Updated by

Oliver 

Written by

Jean 

Updated on Aug 23, 2024

How to format USB to FAT32? If the USB flash drive is within 32GB, the native Windows File Explorer and Windows Disk Management are good FAT32 formatter. However, if you want to format 64GB or 128GB USB to FAT32, you can only depend on CMD (Usually diskpart and PowerShell) and a third-party FAT32 format tool like EaseUS Partition Master.

32GB is the watershed when it comes to deciding how to format your USB flash drive to the FAT32 file system. In a word, when the USB drive is within 32GB, you can choose any tool mentioned on this page to make it. Otherwise, once the USB drive capacity exceeds the 32GB limit, you'll need to turn to more advanced solutions.

Next, EaseUS will cover all free solutions to let you format 2GB, 8GB, 32GB, 64GB, 128GB, or 256GB USB flash drive to FAT32 with success.

#1. Format USB to FAT32 via EaseUS FAT32 Formatter

Since the FAT32 option is not available in the regular Windows formatting tools due to the FAT32 partition size limit, you need another capable USB formatter to get rid of that issue. Here, we recommend you try EaseUS Partition Master Free, which can help you format your hard drive and USB drive without Windows limitations.

It breaks the 32GB capacity limit on a USB flash drive, pen drive, or memory card. You can apply the software to format any drive from 2GB to 256GB or even bigger to FAT32 without limitation.

Step 1. Launch EaseUS Partition Master, right-click the partition you intend to format and choose "Format".

Step 2. In the new window, enter the Partition label, choose the FAT32/EXT2/EXT3/EXT4 file system, and set the cluster size according to your needs, then click "OK".

Step 3. Then you will see a warning window, click "Yes" in it to continue.

Step 4. Click the "Execute 1 Task(s)" button in the top-left corner to review the changes, then click "Apply" to start formatting the partition to FAT32/EXT2/EXT3/EXT4.

If your USB drive or other disk is using NTFS format, this powerful tool can even help you convert from NTFS to FAT without losing data.

In addition, it also lets you easily resize, create, delete, merge, split, copy partitions, convert MBR to GPT drive and vice versa, and many other things you cannot realize in the default Windows programs.

Read Also: Best PNY USB Flash Drive Format Tool Free Download

#2. Format USB to FAT32 via Windows File Explorer

Connect your USB drive to a Windows PC or laptop and let Windows recognize your drive and assign it a drive letter. Check it in Windows Explorer and follow the steps to format the drive to FAT32 as you want.

Step 1. Press the Windows + E keys and open File Explorer.

Step 2. Right-click on your USB drive and choose Format.

Step 3. Choose FAT32 as the target file system, tick Quick Format, and click Start.

Download EaseUS Partition Master for a simple method:

#3. Format USB to FAT32 via Disk Management

Disk management is a free Windows built-in utility designed to help users with common disk partition-related jobs. It is ready to help whenever you want to format a small USB drive to FAT32.

Step 1. Right-click This PC in Windows 10/My Computer in Windows 7, and choose Manage.

Step 2. Choose Disk Management under Storage.

Step 3. Right-click on your USB drive and select Format.

Step 4. From the File system drop-down list, choose FAT32 and click OK.

The Windows built-in tools have some limitations that might lead to the format option greyed out, preventing you from formatting the drive to FAT32. If you encounter this issue, the following page can help.

[Fixed] FAT32 Format Option Not Available in Windows

This page covers a practical solution to help you deal with the FAT32 format option not available in Disk Management. Read on to learn the details. Read more >>

#4. Format USB to FAT32 via CMD

Though Windows Command Prompt is the other attainable way that enables users to format a storage device to whatever file system, it's kind of higher-level and riskier for average persons.

If you are with solid computer skills and are familiar with the command lines, you can try the diskpart and PowerShell commands to format your USB drive to FAT32 as the third-party EaseUS format tool does.

Diskpart Command Line:

list disk
select disk *
list volume
select volume *
format fs=ntfs quick

🔖Read also: Solved: Diskpart List Volume There Are No Volumes

PowerShell Command Line:

format /FS:FAT32 X:

You can also watch this video to see how to format your device using CMD.

Have you learned how to format USB drive to FAT32? If this passage is useful, share this passage to help more people in need!

Why Do We Format USB to FAT32?

Related topic: Should you format USB to FAT32 or NTFS?

What's FAT32? FAT32 is regarded as the default file system for external drives, especially removable USB flash drives and SD memory cards. It's the most compatible file system for major devices and operating systems like Windows and macOS. So, the advantage of using FAT32 is portability.

However, FAT32 has some disadvantages and, let's say, limitations as well. First and foremost, if you use a single file over 4GB in size, you'll need to convert FAT32 to NTFS or exFAT. What's more, due to the manufacturers' specifications, FAT32 can only be used to format drives between 2GB and 32GB, and that's why native tools on Windows have that limit, too. When you try to format a USB drive over 32GB in Windows Explorer, there is no "FAT32" option.

Conclusion

Regarding the topic "how to format USB to FAT32", we analyzed the FAT32's advantages and disadvantages and clearly know that the regular Windows File Explorer and Windows Disk Management can only deal with USB drives under 32GB. If you're trying to format a large USB drive that is 64GB or 128GB, you'll need to download the third-party formatting software - EaseUS Partition Master Free or challenge yourself to learn the Diskpart or PowerShell commands.

All in all, no matter how large your USB flash drive is, EaseUS FAT32 format software is the optimal choice to format your USB drive to FAT32. It doesn't require the USB storage size, and most of all, it's user-friendly, and everyone can benefit from it.