Redmond, Washington, April 14, 2026, 06:05 PDT
Microsoft is moving one of Windows’ oldest storage restrictions closer to release. In the current Beta and Dev previews, users in Microsoft’s Insider test program can format FAT32 volumes — an older file system still used by some devices — up to 2 terabytes from the command line, replacing a 32GB ceiling that has lingered in Windows for decades.
Alec Oot of the Windows Insider Program wrote last week that Beta now previews what Microsoft plans to ship “in the coming weeks” and will stop staggering announced features across only part of the channel. Microsoft first showed the same FAT32 jump in Canary testing in August 2024, but its arrival in Beta puts it nearer mainstream Windows 11 users. Windows Blog
The April 10 releases do more than lift the cap. Microsoft said Beta build 26220.8165 and Dev build 26300.8170 also speed up the Settings route to Disks & Volumes on large drives, delay the User Account Control permission prompt until users open temporary files, and fix a bug that showed unrealistic numbers under Network & Internet > Data Usage.
That still matters because FAT32 has not vanished. PC Gamer said users above 32GB have long turned to third-party tools for BIOS update sticks and older hardware, while Windows Latest said some game consoles, media devices and embedded systems still expect FAT32 even as newer formats dominate most day-to-day storage.
The broader storage market has moved elsewhere. Microsoft’s exFAT specification describes exFAT as FAT32’s successor, and Apple’s Disk Utility tells Mac users to use FAT for Windows volumes of 32GB or less and exFAT for larger ones, steering bigger removable drives away from FAT32 by default.
Former Microsoft engineer Dave Plummer, who worked on the old format dialog, said in 2024 that the cap was “an arbitrary choice that morning.” Engadget, citing Plummer’s earlier explanation, said he had expected the 32GB number to be temporary when he chose it in the mid-1990s. The Verge
The catch is that the latest fix still does not reach every way Windows formats a drive. PCWorld said the higher limit currently applies only in Command Prompt or Terminal, not the old graphical formatter, and Microsoft’s Windows installation guidance still notes that FAT32 volumes cannot hold individual files larger than 4GB.
Windows Latest, which tested the new builds on several drives, said opening disk properties on one system had taken about 15 seconds before the update and became almost instant afterward. Microsoft did not put numbers on the speed gain, but its build notes describe an improvement when viewing storage on large volumes.
The risk is simple: bigger FAT32 volumes do not make FAT32 modern. The file system still lacks journaling, a crash-recovery log used by newer formats, and its 4GB ceiling makes it a poor fit for large video files, disc images or backups, which is why NTFS — Windows’ main file system — and exFAT remain the practical choice for most bigger drives.
Still, moving the feature into Beta changes the story. For Windows users who still need FAT32 to flash firmware, boot older hardware or deal with finicky legacy devices, Microsoft now looks closer to removing a small but stubborn reason to reach for third-party formatting tools.
