File Systems

Shohola

I would like to know, what do the numbers mean / indicate in the following file systems: FAT16 and FAT32?

Darril

It's the number of bits used to address areas on the disk. FAT16 uses 16 bits and FAT32 uses 32 bits. The next one is FAT64 (also called exFAT) and it uses 64 bits. More bits allow the file system to address more clusters on the disk and support larger disks.

• FAT16 has a maximum partition size of 4 GB
• FAT32 has a maximum partition size of 32 GB
• FAT64 has a maximum partition size of 128 PB

It also affects the maximum file sizes.

• FAT16 has a maximum file size of 2 GB
• FAT32 has a maximum file size of 4 GB
• FAT64 has a maximum file size of 16 EB

HTH