Microsoft is removing a long-standing Windows limitation with the Windows 11 Build 27686 beta: Data storage media can currently only be formatted with FAT32 up to 32GB in size. Although technically, FAT32 will certainly support larger storage sizes. This artificially imposed 32GB limit by Microsoft will not be implemented in one of the upcoming Windows 11 builds.
Until now, users could only exceed the 32GB limit using third-party software or special command line commands in Windows PowerShell. However, if you use the standard Windows GUI or the format command in CMD, you will be stuck with the 32GB limit for FAT32.
However, these solutions won’t be necessary in the future, at least for the command line. Because Microsoft writes the following in a blog post about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27686 (Canary Channel):
When formatting hard drives from the command line using the format command, we increased the maximum FAT32 size from 32GB to 2TB.
Accordingly, it appears that Microsoft is initially only raising the 32GB limit when formatting via the command line, but not for the GUI. At least that’s how media outlets like The Verge interpret it.
What does that mean?
Although Windows has generally used NTFS for its partitions for a long time, the older FAT32 format is still mostly used for external storage. By eliminating the 32GB limit, users will be able to use much larger external drives in the older FAT32 format in the future.
It seems that Windows developers chose this 32GB cap arbitrarily and only as a temporary measure. Former Windows developer Dave Plummer said this on Twitter/X:
You can get an overview of the different file systems for Windows in the proper file system format guide: FAT, NTFS & Co. However, the 32GB upper limit for Windows is still there. Only when Microsoft moves the change from its beta versions to the final release of Windows will the 32GB limit be removed.
Microsoft is also testing a new sandbox in Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27686 for the Canary Channel. You can read more about this in one of the best Windows professional tools to get a massive upgrade.
