How to format to FAT32 under Windows 8?

Solution 1:

If the target partition/drive is larger than 32GB Windows will not offer to let you format it as FAT32, because their formatting tool doesn't support FAT32 volumes that large (hasn't since windows 2000).

See

  • MS KB184006: Limitations of FAT32 File System
  • MS KB314463: Limitations of the FAT32 File System in Windows XP

There are 3rd party utilities for formatting larger drives as FAT32 on Windows though, like the fat32format utility. It has a GUI version as well. (note: I've never actually used this, it's an example ;) ).

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