Windows 11 is finally removing the 32GB FAT32 capacity limit

Microsoft has released new test builds for Windows Insiders that include a significant change. After many decades and extensive preparatory work, Windows is removing a long-time storage limit for FAT32.

The new feature can be found in Windows 11 Dev Build 26300.8170 and Beta Build 26220.8165, as announced in this Windows Insider blog post. You can now format storage media up to 2TB in size using FAT32 in the Command Prompt (using the format command). Microsoft says the following about this change: “We’re increasing the size limit for formatting FAT32 volumes via the command line from 32GB to 2TB.”

This is a real milestone, as until now Windows only allowed FAT32 formatting with a storage size cap of 32GB. Anyone wishing to format larger storage media using the FAT32 file system had to rely on third-party programs or use special commands in Windows PowerShell.

This 32GB limit has been in place for decades in Windows, even though FAT32 itself has long supported significantly larger storage capacities. This limitation was an arbitrary Microsoft decision from 1994, not a technical restraint—according to Microsoft veteran Dave Plummer, who said as much in this social media post:

The removal of the 32GB limit for FAT32 in Windows 11 only applies when using the Command Prompt (also known as Terminal now), not when formatting via the Windows graphical interface. The 4GB upper limit for individual file sizes on FAT32 drives still remains.

What does this mean for you?

Although Windows generally uses NTFS for its partitions, the ancient FAT32 format is still used for external storage. With the removal of the 32GB limit, users will therefore be able to use significantly larger external drives without giving up the older FAT32 format.

Note that the 32GB limit still applies in regular versions of Windows 11. This change is currently only live in preview versions for Windows Insiders. Only when the change goes live will the 32GB FAT32 capacity limit be lifted for all Windows 11 users.

In addition to removing the capacity limit, Microsoft also promises faster operations in the storage settings menu with these Insider builds. Microsoft outlines all the new features for the aforementioned new Insider test versions on this support page.

By the way: If you’re using Windows 11 Home, you’re missing out on the many benefits of Windows 11 Pro. To learn more, see our comparison of Windows 11 Home and Pro. If you want to upgrade, snag it for cheap in the PCWorld Software Store: now just $59 instead of $99.