{"id":474161,"date":"2022-07-14T21:00:09","date_gmt":"2022-07-14T18:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/how-to-format-a-usb-drive-on-linux-that-works-with-windows\/"},"modified":"2022-07-14T21:00:09","modified_gmt":"2022-07-14T18:00:09","slug":"how-to-format-a-usb-drive-on-linux-that-works-with-windows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-to-format-a-usb-drive-on-linux-that-works-with-windows\/","title":{"rendered":"#How to Format a USB Drive on Linux That Works With Windows"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_84 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a284c72290dd\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a284c72290dd\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-to-format-a-usb-drive-on-linux-that-works-with-windows\/#%E2%80%9CHow_to_Format_a_USB_Drive_on_Linux_That_Works_With_Windows%E2%80%9D\" >&#8220;How to Format a USB Drive on Linux That Works With Windows&#8221;<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-2' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-to-format-a-usb-drive-on-linux-that-works-with-windows\/#The_Universal_Format\" >The Universal Format?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-to-format-a-usb-drive-on-linux-that-works-with-windows\/#The_Most_Important_Steps\" >The Most Important Steps<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-to-format-a-usb-drive-on-linux-that-works-with-windows\/#Formatting_with_GNOME_Disks\" >Formatting with GNOME Disks<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-to-format-a-usb-drive-on-linux-that-works-with-windows\/#Formatting_on_the_Command_Line\" >Formatting on the Command Line<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-to-format-a-usb-drive-on-linux-that-works-with-windows\/#Avoid_the_4GB_Barrier\" >Avoid the 4GB Barrier<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9CHow_to_Format_a_USB_Drive_on_Linux_That_Works_With_Windows%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>&#8220;How to Format a USB Drive on Linux That Works With Windows&#8221;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<div>\n<figure style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"type:primaryImage size-full wp-image-791996\" data-pagespeed-no-defer=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/shutterstock_321627716.png?width=1198&amp;trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1\" alt=\"Linux laptop showing a bash prompt\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span class=\"type:primaryImage imagecredit\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shutterstock.com\/image-vector\/linux-interface-screen-notebook-world-map-321627716\">fatmawati achmad zaenuri\/Shutterstock.com<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Sometimes Linux users need to exchange files with computers running other operating systems, such as Windows or macOS. That\u2019s simple enough with a USB drive\u2014as long as it is formatted correctly.<\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_Universal_Format\"><\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" name=\"autotoc_anchor_0\">The Universal Format?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Linux hard drives are most commonly formatted to <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Ext4\">ext4<\/a>, although other formats are slowly growing in popularity such as <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Btrfs\">btrfs<\/a> and <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/ZFS\">ZFS<\/a>. These are Linux-specific file system formats. With USB drives, it\u2019s a different story. To enjoy the maximum flexibility, and to be able to use them on Windows or macOS as well as on Linux, they need to be formatted to something that works in all three operating systems.<\/p>\n<p>Obviously, using a Linux-only format isn\u2019t going to give us what we need. Neither is using an Apple-only format. The closest thing we had to an Esperanto of file storage formats was <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/File_Allocation_Table#FAT32\">FAT32<\/a>. USB drives formatted to this Microsoft standard could be used interchangeably on Windows, Linux, and macOS. That was great until you tried to store a file that happened to be larger than 4GB. That was the fixed, upper-limit file size baked into FAT32.<\/p>\n<p>The <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/File_Allocation_Table#exFAT\">exFAT<\/a> file system overcomes that limitation. It\u2019s another Microsoft format, and it is compatible with macOS and\u2014since kernel 5.4\u2014Linux. That makes it a strong contender for the best file system for USB drives that need to work with the big three operating systems.\u00a0It doesn\u2019t have the drawbacks of FAT32, but neither does it carry the overheads and extra functionality of NTFS. That makes it fast, too.<\/p>\n<p>As long as you\u2019re on a Linux kernel that is version 5.4 or higher, you\u2019ll be able to use exFAT just as easily as you can any of the other supported file systems. At the time of writing, the current Linux kernel is 5.18, so as long as you have a recently patched and updated system, you\u2019ll be good to go. We\u2019ll demonstrate a graphical method using GNOME Disks, as well as a terminal method.<\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_Most_Important_Steps\"><\/span>The Most Important Steps<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>When you write a new file system onto a USB drive everything on it is erased. That means it is vital that you:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Verify you don\u2019t care that anything and everything on the USB drive will be erased\u00a0<em>or<\/em>\u00a0ensure that you\u2019ve <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/778790\/how-to-copy-files-and-directories-in-linux-terminal\/\">copied anything you want to keep to another drive.<\/li>\n<li>Make sure you know which storage device is the one you want to format. Don\u2019t format the wrong drive. It\u2019s an easy mistake to make on a multi-drive computer.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>RELATED:<\/strong> <strong><em>How to List Your Computer&#8217;s Devices From the Linux Terminal<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Formatting_with_GNOME_Disks\"><\/span>Formatting with GNOME Disks<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The safest way to begin is with the USB drive <em>unplugged<\/em>. In Ubuntu, you can press the \u201cSuper\u201d key, then type \u201cdisks\u201d in the search field. You\u2019ll see the <code>disks<\/code> icon. Click the icon to launch the GNOME <code>disks<\/code> application.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-810671\" data-pagespeed-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/1-2.png?trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1\" alt=\"\" width=\"425\" height=\"300\" src=\"\/pagespeed_static\/1.JiBnMqyl6S.gif\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><\/p>\n<p>The <code>disks<\/code> application lists the storage devices it can find in the left-hand sidebar.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-810672\" data-pagespeed-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/2-1.png?trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1\" alt=\"List of storage devices in GNOME disks\" width=\"644\" height=\"285\" src=\"\/pagespeed_static\/1.JiBnMqyl6S.gif\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><\/p>\n<p>This computer has a mix of <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/749487\/best-external-hard-drives\/\">physical drives and SSD drives, and an optical CD\/DVD drive.<\/p>\n<p>Plug in the USB drive. Linux will detect it, and the change will be reflected in the GNOME <code>disks<\/code> application.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-810673\" data-pagespeed-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/3-2.png?trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1\" alt=\"USB drive listed in GNOME disks\" width=\"644\" height=\"295\" src=\"\/pagespeed_static\/1.JiBnMqyl6S.gif\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><\/p>\n<p>The drive has been added to the list of known storage devices and is correctly identified as a Kingston Data Traveler. The total capacity of this USB drive is 32GB, but it is displayed as 31GB. This is because you lose a little space when you format a drive.\u00a0Don\u2019t be surprised if the capacity of your USB drive isn\u2019t as much as you expect.<\/p>\n<p>Click on the drive to see some information about it.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-810675\" data-pagespeed-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/4.png?trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1\" alt=\"USB drive details listed in GNOME disks\" width=\"644\" height=\"280\" src=\"\/pagespeed_static\/1.JiBnMqyl6S.gif\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><\/p>\n<p>We can see that it is formatted with the ext4 file system, and its Linux designation is \u201c\/dev\/sdc.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Click on the cogged wheel icon, then click the \u201cFormat Partition\u2026\u201d menu option.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-810674\" data-pagespeed-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/5-1.png?trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1\" alt=\"The &quot;Format Partition&quot; menu option\" width=\"644\" height=\"250\" src=\"\/pagespeed_static\/1.JiBnMqyl6S.gif\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Type a name for your USB drive, select the \u201cOther\u201d radio button, then click the \u201cNext\u201d button.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-810676\" data-pagespeed-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/6-1.png?trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1\" alt=\"Providing a volume name for the USB drive in GNOME disks\" width=\"583\" height=\"415\" src=\"\/pagespeed_static\/1.JiBnMqyl6S.gif\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Select the \u201cexFAT\u201d radio button, then click the \u201cNext\u201d button.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-810677\" data-pagespeed-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/7.png?trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1\" alt=\"The exFAT radio button selected in the Custom Format dialog\" width=\"582\" height=\"380\" src=\"\/pagespeed_static\/1.JiBnMqyl6S.gif\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><\/p>\n<p>You\u2019re warned that the USB drive will be wiped clean, and you\u2019re shown the details of the drive so that you can confirm it is the drive you intend to format. Only when you\u2019re satisfied it is the correct drive, click the red \u201cFormat\u201d button.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-810678\" data-pagespeed-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/8.png?trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1\" alt=\"The confirmation page of the format dialog\" width=\"583\" height=\"340\" src=\"\/pagespeed_static\/1.JiBnMqyl6S.gif\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><\/p>\n<p>The drive is formatted for you, and you\u2019re returned to the main <code>disks<\/code> display. The entry for the USB drive now shows it is formatted with the exFAT file system.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-810679\" data-pagespeed-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/9.png?trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1\" alt=\"The USB drive formatted to exFAT in the GNOME disks display\" width=\"644\" height=\"290\" src=\"\/pagespeed_static\/1.JiBnMqyl6S.gif\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Formatting_on_the_Command_Line\"><\/span>Formatting on the Command Line<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The first step is to positively identify the USB drive. We can do this using the <code>lsblk<\/code> command. <em>Without<\/em> the USB drive plugged in, run the <code>lsblk<\/code> command:<\/p>\n<pre>lsblk<\/pre>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-810680\" data-pagespeed-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/10.png?trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1\" alt=\"The output of lsblk without the USB drive plugged in\" width=\"574\" height=\"260\" src=\"\/pagespeed_static\/1.JiBnMqyl6S.gif\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Plug the USB drive into the computer and wait a moment for Linux to recognize and mount it. Then run the same <code>lsblk<\/code> command:<\/p>\n<pre>lsblk<\/pre>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-810681\" data-pagespeed-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/11.png?trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1\" alt=\"The output of lsblk with the USB drive plugged in\" width=\"574\" height=\"270\" src=\"\/pagespeed_static\/1.JiBnMqyl6S.gif\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><\/p>\n<p>We can see the new entry for the USB drive. It is showing up as device \u201c\/dev\/sdc\u201d, and it is mounted on \u201c\/run\/media\/dave\/MetalUSB.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Before we can format it, we need to <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/414634\/how-to-mount-and-unmount-storage-devices-from-the-linux-terminal\/\">unmount it. We\u2019ll need to use <code>sudo<\/code>. Note that there is no \u201cn\u201d in the \u201cumount\u201d command.<\/p>\n<p>We pass the mount point to the <code>umount<\/code> command. What this does is unmount the\u00a0<em>file system<\/em>. If we use the <code>lsblk<\/code> command we\u2019ll see that the USB drive is still recognized, but it is no longer associated with a mount point.<\/p>\n<pre>sudo umount \/run\/media\/dave\/MetalUSB<\/pre>\n<pre>lsblk<\/pre>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-810682\" data-pagespeed-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/12.png?trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1\" alt=\"The unmounted USB drive showing in the output from the lsblk command\" width=\"574\" height=\"290\" src=\"\/pagespeed_static\/1.JiBnMqyl6S.gif\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><\/p>\n<p>To format the USB drive with the new file system, we use the <code>mkfs.exfat<\/code> command. We need to reference the USB drive using its device name, which is \u201c\/dev\/sdc.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The <code>-L<\/code> (label) option lets us provide a volume label. We\u2019re going to call this USB drive \u201cMetal32.\u201d<\/p>\n<pre>sudo mkfs.exfat -L Metal32 \/dev\/sdc<\/pre>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-810683\" data-pagespeed-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/13.png?trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1\" alt=\"Creating the exFAT file system on the USB drive\" width=\"574\" height=\"280\" src=\"\/pagespeed_static\/1.JiBnMqyl6S.gif\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Unplug the USB drive, wait a moment, then plug it back in. Use the <code>lsblk<\/code> command once more and you\u2019ll see the drive is now mounted and the mount point name has changed to reflect the name we chose when we created the file system.<\/p>\n<pre>lsblk<\/pre>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-810684\" data-pagespeed-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/14.png?trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1\" alt=\"The USB drive mounted on a new mount point\" width=\"574\" height=\"280\" src=\"\/pagespeed_static\/1.JiBnMqyl6S.gif\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><\/p>\n<p>To verify that the file system is indeed exFAT, we can use the df command with the <code>-T<\/code> (type) option.<\/p>\n<pre>df -T \/dev\/sdc<\/pre>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-810685\" data-pagespeed-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/15.png?trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1\" alt=\"Using the df command to check the file system of the USB drive\" width=\"574\" height=\"110\" src=\"\/pagespeed_static\/1.JiBnMqyl6S.gif\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><\/p>\n<p>We can see the file system is listed as exFAT.<\/p>\n<p><strong>RELATED:<\/strong> <strong><em>How to Use the mkfs Command on Linux<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Just to make sure Microsoft Windows was happy with the USB drive we plugged it into a Windows computer and looked at its properties. Windows 10 treated the drive as a functional and correctly-formatted USB drive, using the exFAT file system.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-810686\" data-pagespeed-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/16.png?trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1\" alt=\"The properties of the USB drive in Windows 10\" width=\"357\" height=\"348\" src=\"\/pagespeed_static\/1.JiBnMqyl6S.gif\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Avoid_the_4GB_Barrier\"><\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" name=\"autotoc_anchor_4\">Avoid the 4GB Barrier<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The theoretical maximum size of a file under exFAT is 16EB (Exbibytes). While you\u2019re unlikely to ever need to transport a file of that size, needing to transfer and share files over 4GB is a common enough requirement to make exFAT a good candidate for a universal format for USB drives.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script>\n setTimeout(function(){\n  !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)\n  {if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?\n  n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};\n  if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';\n  n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;\n  t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];\n  s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s) } (window, document,'script',\n  'https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js');\n   fbq('init', '335401813750447');\n   fbq('track', 'PageView');\n  },3000);\n<\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more like this article, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/technology\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Technology category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/810669\/how-to-format-a-usb-drive-on-linux-that-works-with-windows\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;How to Format a USB Drive on Linux That Works With Windows&#8221; fatmawati achmad zaenuri\/Shutterstock.com Sometimes Linux users need to exchange files with computers running other operating systems, such as Windows or macOS. That\u2019s simple enough with a USB drive\u2014as long as it is formatted correctly. The Universal Format? Linux hard drives are most commonly&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":474162,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/shutterstock_321627716.png?height=200p&trim=2,2,2,2","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-474161","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/474161","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=474161"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/474161\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/474162"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=474161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=474161"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=474161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}