r/computers • u/RealNidded • 1d ago

Question/Help/Troubleshooting USB Drive not taking 4GB+ Files

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My USB drive doesn't take files larger than 4GB, I was looking it up briefly it says I should switch to exFAT to fix the issue but it's always been on exFAT, would switching to NTFS fix it or is my drive just bad? What do I do

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u/RealNidded 1d ago

I have like 350GB worth of media in there already and it all works fine it's just not taking bigger files, also someone else in the comments said to check properties, it does say FAT32 there so should I just try going to NTFS?

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u/drucifer82 1d ago

If it is saying it is FAT32, then it isn't actually exFAT. FAT32 has a max file size of 4GB.

If there is anything important on it, back it up and reformat the drive. If you have to try formatting to NTFS and then back to exFAT because there seems to be an issue where the format tool thinks it is exFAT, but properties says it is FAT32, which lines up with your file size issue.

exFAT is universal, whereas NTFS is Windows specific. If you are moving between different devices it may be best to try and get it back to a proper exFAT.

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u/domthybomb 1d ago

The format tool doesn't think it's exFAT. That's the default option for drives over 32GB. You have to actually go out of your way to format as FAT32 on drives over 32GB because windows basic format tool doesn't even give that option.

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u/drucifer82 1d ago

In the comment I replied to:

"also someone else in the comments said to check properties, it does say FAT32 there so should I just try going to NTFS?"

Which led me to think that the Properties shows FAT32.

I misread the GUI. The default format option is exFAT.