exFat vs NTFS File System Comparison Benchmark for Flash Drives - PCWizKid

Comment below, what do you think about this? Would you use exFAT on your Flash Drive? Do you have files larger than 4GB to transfer?

[@goblinondrums]

This is perfect. Thanks so much for posting this! No gimmicks or whistles. Straight to the point and well explained. Thanks!

[@gadineshkumar]

Thanks man. Really useful for choosing between NTFS and exFAT.

[@WisdomTree2024]

very much informative, you're great. thanks.

[@alakhrajsharma7265]

Thank you very much. I have formatted my HDD to gpt as exfat and it works more better than Ntd’s at gpt.

[@PCDRAGONHD]

thanks bro helped me allot formating my 64gb kingston flash drive to exFAT,works far bether for me than ntfs on this one =)

[@jcbongares9899]

thanks for the info., bless you mate

[@Fridgemusa]

Was anyone else waiting for this guy to say diddly?

[@MrFaizilyas3]

Fridgemusa giggery

[@MikeyTheBaxxy]

I have a question. I want to use a thumb drive to dedicate for readyboost to help speed up gaming but because (I'm guess is the case) I went from a 32bit Windows 7 to a 64bit Windows 10 it still won't go past the 4gb limit even if I dedicated the device. Should I format the thumb drive to NTFS to increase the size or simply leave it with FAT32? (exFAT is still an available option but I'm still unsure about it)

[@ameerazad3250]

Thanks for the idea....

[@StylinRed]

What happens when you increase the allocation unit size on the exfat since it can go much higher than ntfs

[@ale3253]

Thanks man!

[@TaeFace93]

Interesting indeed.

[@FearingHD]

but you cant install win7 on exfat formatted ssd, right?

[@asifkan2]

When i connect my wd hdd to mobile it always aske to format it first but the is works on laptop without any problem? Any help

[@PF-gi9vv]

I like to used NTFS on my SD cards because I can set the files to read only, thus stops accidental alterations and deletions.

[@Reconseal4050]

I have a portable hard drive that I will use for mainly photoshop and RAW images so will exfat be the best solution for me?

[@abrahammartin6480]

What about the allocated unit size? What is the purpose of that?

[@dallaspilotcar9293]

Hi, i am having to reinstall Windows 7 Pro after Microsoft forced 10 on me a couple of years ago and even though i immediately reverted back, many of the programs did not work anymore. To this day every time I boot up, I get all kinds of errors such has missing api's, dll files etc. But, now that I went back to Kaspersky after using Bitdefener in 2017, the Kasparsky has an issue and will not open the interface and when I check compatibility, it says that it is incompatible with my OS. I despise Microsoft. Any how I have 2 external portable drives and 1 is formatted 1 TB NTFS and the other is formatted exfat 1 TB, I have spent the last 3 days trying to get all of my data moved over to the external drive and most of the current data is on the one for the exfat. However when I tried to create a system image to the exfat, I was not able to do that because Windows says it needs to be formatted NTFS. So, now, I am copying and pasting all the data from the exfat to the ntfs external drive. But, I am afraid that once I wipe out and reformat the Exfat to NTfs that the files that were stored on it may not work when I reinstall windows. Please advise. Oh yeah, I also went into permissions on the files stored on the exfat and enabled sharing to anyone on my network. I use wireless though and I set up my router to only allow about 10 different MAC address's. ANyway, I want to reinstall Windows but. I am afraid that somehow Microsoft will corrupt my saved data.

[@CRONIKMASTERBATR]

how do I reformat a usb that is exFAT that wont let me... it says disk it is write protected ... I cant use CMD to do it because when I get in there clean it it says its write protected and its exFAT?? what can I do I already saw the turorials and still isn't working

[@doms6741]

Which is faster for a live OS on a USB?

[@phillipdavis2472]

thanks yo

I have to use external drives formated as exFAT 'cuz other people in my office use mac and is way slower than NTFS, you notice the difference right away while working with these drives at Premiere and other edition softwares..

[@HexlGaming]

But what about "Allocation unit size"?

[@MasticinaAkicta]

The question is, is NTFS worth it with its journaling? Journaling is very nice, write cache is very nice, the functionality it hooks up with windows is very nice. But the extra write required to the flash memory is not good. After all flash cells only can be written to a number of times. The extra writes might kill the usb drive off earlier. Still if it is an SSD put in a system I would suggest NTFS just for all the NTFS goodies. When it comes to fixing errors and keeping things running smooth it is hard to go around all NTFS has to offer.

[@evilmadness8052]

I got 2 Seagate 8TB Hard Drives I formatted both to exFAT it seems to run faster and can be converted to large Hard Drives over 4TB's which is what I had before. NTFS is more of a universal format. Better than FAT16-32 but still not as good as exFAT more people should format to exFAT especially for the bigger Hard Drives coming out now.

[@amarjiith6867]

NTFS is better than exfat. If you are copying a single large file, exfat is about 5-6 % faster. But when you transfer small files (1MB) then you will find exfat is about 30% slower than NTFS. This difference is too much to bear. If you don't believe me try copying 1GB single file on both NTFS and exfat and compare time taken. Now, Take 1000 files of 1MB and copy it to the same drive formatted at NTFS and Exfat Conclusion: exfat faster only for sequential writing. While overall NTFS is better

[@abcdef2069]

bill gate probably purposely included that exFAT slowness and many files bug to sell NTFS, try FAT32 and say that, i found no reason why exFAT had to be slow on many files, while NTFS needs encription and indexing and journalings

[@LucaDigioia83]

Good!! Way to go Microsoft another closed standard 'cause we really need more of those! :)

[@MELERIX]

www.forbes.com/sites/jasonevangelho/2019/08/29/microsoft-wants-exfat-file-system-technology-in-the-linux-kernel/

[@Xyb3rTeCh]

***** Hey mate, please state the allocation file size unit for the exFAT. Which allocation size did you formatted for the test? What is your recommendation on Allocation Unit Size for exFat in general? 32k? 64k? 128k? (default)

[@PCWizKid]

***** I used the default size.

[@Xyb3rTeCh]

***** Was it 128 kb?

[@rebelliousmike4142]

***** I have a turbo-x flash memory card up to 32gb. My computer have windows xp operating system. I want to transfer a rar file around 20gb. Some people told me that I have to format the stick from fat32 to exfat but when I tried this I discovered that the file system cannot change. It has only fat32 nothing else,it doesn't have another option to choose. What should I do? Please respond!!!

[@tadho4652]

windows XP doesn't have exFAT support. (not compatible). you'd better stick with NTFS

[@Xyb3rTeCh]

7MGTESupraTurboA alright mate. cheers ΕΛΛΑΣ mate, you better get rid of those dinosaur OS. Windows XP is plaguing with poor security and would be easily get attacked by malware/viruses. Just upgrade to Windows 7 or straightaway to Windows 10. Then you will able to format your USB file system to ExFAT.

[@Am4ndeepSingh]

Can you guys help me? Which is best & Secure(no Data loss) file system for Storage exFat or NTFS with Great Lifespan? Today i purchase a 2tb External Hard drive & i want to store all my 1TB Anime Collection OwO in it. But😞 I'm afraid😖 of losing🥺 data. I have already lose😢 my 835gb data(SSHD) before.😔

[@midfingr]

exFAT is great for transferring large files to other Windows computers via flash drive for example.

[@taukeair]

you can intall ntfs-3g.. it can write to ntfs for mac dude

[@Pawl0solidus]

On Mac OS NTFS can only be read, not written. You need apreciar software tools to write to NTFS then. That makes exFAT the best option for file exchanging between both systems.

[@oechikr]

oh ya

[@VIXXZ777]

so the device that can read only far 32 can it read ex fat ?

[@justsomerandompersononthei2595]

exFAT is different so no.

[@akuaragon]

nice info kid!

[@Shaxuul]

What is generally the best allocation size for exFAT? Surely it can't be the default 32KB, right?

[@uzefulvideos3440]

The default is 128KB

[@uzefulvideos3440]

When you have many small files, you should choose a smaller allocation size, but when you only have big files (music, video, photos), a bigger allocation size can increase performance.

[@pupstermobster8567]

my flash drive was acting up so i decided to reformat from the default fat32 to ntfs. bad choice! according to info online, ntfs is a journaling file system, meaning the drive performs two simultaneous writes, one for the actual changes the user makes and another for logging those changes. The end result was my flash drive performed worse than before, causing system hangups. I decided to format to exFAT with default allocation size, and now it's the fastest and most stable it's ever been.

[@LigerZero1985]

i didnt know exfat wasnt meant for hard drives until now holy crap, my P drive was formatted to exfat since 2009, maybe i should reformat to ntfs

[@RobertsKristins]

OS x support NTFS only with third part software

[@gunner-pm7jh]

i have recent found from a friend a chinese made usb stick wich it says its about 100giga....but after i enter some data about 10 giga whatever i insert something and i try it to my hime the files says zero bytes!!!! what format should i use please this is urgent reply when you can ok? ://

[@OniNekomon]

+gunner6084 you bought so called fake usb flash drive, read on google about it. On ebay or other online shops there are fraud sellers who sell 1TB usb's when in reality they are 8gb and when you write over 8gb it starts to corrupt your data.

[@gunner-pm7jh]

really??? wow....ok thank you

[@w1p30ut3r]

I use ExFat for a HDD and it FLYES... Really faster than ntfs...

[@berkeyfamily9828]

w1p30ut3r My son hard critical files on exFat hard drive and the drive failed. ExFat is for SSD. I don’t recommend exfat on hds

[@WR3ND]

@MS F No, NTFS can hold much larger files than 4 GB. You must be thinking of FAT32.

[@WR3ND]

@MS F That's strange, but fair enough. I still use FAT32 sometimes because it's natively compatible with both Windows and Linux, but it is limited in file size, unfortunately. Cheers.

[@whiteislandhorrorshows5438]

I cant change exfat to ntfs why?

[@mohammed.u]

I guess NTFS is better, since I don't mind it little slower but for the wide support of OSs you can never go wrong. I mean you don't know when you'll need it. :)

[@AestheticDelta]

sdxc 256 gb came already formatted clean straight from the box at 238 gb exFat. Sticking to exFat on this one.

[@leojanz6559]

i have question... when i covert exfat to ntfs... my sd card was corrupts... why its happen

[@2010axlslash]

because your a fuck face

[@xAffan]

2010axlslash stfu and learn grammar

[@DePhoegonIsle]

NTFS honestly, Games aren't just 1 file, They are split into a few different files. I've honestly never really found a dire need for exFat, or been hampered by NTFS in win7 pro or Win8 pro

[@DvirMuja]

SO NTFS EXFAT OR FAT32? USB FLASH DRIVE AND AN EXTERNAL HARDRIVE, WINDOWS 8.1

[@justsomerandompersononthei2595]

USB: exFAT External HDD: If you are only using it on Windows, use NTFS. Otherwise, exFAT.

[@kovavla]

It's easy to install extra Linux drivers/tools that enable exfat support. However, some devices, like smart TVs that run Linux, cannot be accessed for extra software installation. I wonder why computer users always have to be bothered with proprietary software standards. Nobody should "own" a good 64 bit filesystem standard that is supported by all sorts of OS.

[@j5892000]

Ntfs has less wider support though not more.

[@gabitg103]

android otg support exFAT but it dosen't support NTFS

[@itsshowtime6412]

Not natively, but with root it can.

[@nelizmastr]

True. But Ext4 is Linux only, which makes it too limited for the rest of the world.

[@Chracker3]

NTFS max Volume is 4gb tested it

[@lilwizjunior]

Apple supports exFat as read & write and NTFS as write only

[@Jimster481]

Its not actually Linux Only. Its open source, its just that MS Refuses to support it.

[@Fwuzeem]

exFAT all the way for storage drives. You know never know when you're gonna need to read and write to Windows and Mac

[@maltatravel]

Do you know Ownage Pranks?

[@MrAzons]

OSX can read and write to exFAT but it can only read NTFS (out of the box)

[@santhosh933]

Since when Ntfs supports OS X ???

[@FirstLast-ze1sw]

newer OS X can read NTFS, but not write, so in a way, it supports it

[@itsshowtime6412]

It's OS X that natively supports NTFS reads, not the other way around. Writes are still not supported natively but can be done with 3th party software.

[@Jimster481]

Well Apple should have no problem working on EXT considering that Apple is BSD, and BSD also supports EXT since its open. If Apple decided to explicitly remove ext support from their kernel well then that is their own fault for being so uncompliant.

[@nelizmastr]

Apple can't work with it either, so that pretty much leaves all Linux distributions, so indirectly, it is Linux only, in terms of support of OS developers.

[@JJMza]

NTFS isn't as compatible with various devices. For example using your flash drive as a music storage drive and plugging it to a USB capable receiver.

[@thethinkingmansgamer]

All those saying you cannot read/write to an NTFS formatted USB drive on Linux? Research/Testing FAIL! Works out of the box on a fresh Ubuntu 14.04 install. ntfs-3g was forked from the Linux-NTFS project on October 31, 2006. It works perfectly with FUSE, and mounts/unmounts r/w just fine.

[@thethinkingmansgamer]

I hate to be the barer of bad news, but that does not make me partially correct. My statement stands. I am correct in saying that Linux has had the ability to read/write to an NTFS partition for a lot longer than people realise. The ability to support ACL's is a minor point, and does not affect the ability to read/write. The first read/write driver was released February 21, 2007, well before this video was made. There is no "partially" about it.

[@thethinkingmansgamer]

***** Really? So you're going to use ACL's as your crusade to prove me wrong? If that is the case, then you have way too much time on your hands. Firstly - I never said that Linux 'supports' NTFS. I said 'Linux has had the ability to read/write to an NTFS partition'; semantically, I am correct. Secondly - ACL's are barely used by Microsoft, let alone used WELL. Linux being able to read/write to NTFS at all is a miracle, considering M$'s archaic closed source. When Szabolcs Szakacsits originally released the first read write/version in 2007, I'm pretty sure he wasn't saying "We now fully support NTFS and all its proprietary convoluted permissions systems". In fact, I can be certain, it was more of a celebration that they managed to get it to work at all. Thirdly - Grow up. 'If you can't understand what partial support means then you have no place discussing this matter' - Considering I've been working in the industry for over 15 years, I'm pretty sure I am qualified to talk about what happens in the industry. That said, I have stated facts to support my position. You on the other hand have given nothing but supposition and personal opinion. When you come to a gun fight, don't bring a flaccid and somewhat empty personal opinion.

[@thethinkingmansgamer]

***** LMAO! The correct term is "Trolling". Not only that, but you cant have it both ways. You made it personal 'If you can't understand what partial support means then you have no place discussing this matter.' You cant blame me for making it personal, when you started it quite happily on your own. Congratulations! YOU WON THE INTERNET!

[@thethinkingmansgamer]

You're missing the point, and arguing for no reason. At what point, would a person install Linux system files on an NTFS USB drive? Why should a Linux administrator care about ACLs on an NTFS USB drive? Your point is moot. You dont have a leg to stand on, as nothing you have brought up so far has any bearing on my original statement. Everything you have declared so far, has been nothing short of personal opinion and baseless conjecture. Move along.

[@thethinkingmansgamer]

I give up. I can't debate with an evangelist. You can continue this alone. I've spent too much time dealing with you. Find someone else to troll. Good day.

[@nelizmastr]

If you want more storage, buy an external harddrive. Faster, and cheaper per gigabyte.

[@drrmmaran]

exFAT

[@lilwizjunior]

Mac doesn't support writing to NTFS.

[@FatheredPuma81]

Didn't feel like bothering with NTFS and Linux fighting so I just used exFAT for my harddrive that holds games. So far the only problem I had was that Windows is like "Duhh... how defrag?" so I got another defrag program and defragged it for 20 hours.

[@darkoholic4036]

weird i found the NTFS faster... :)

[@amirulasyraf1409]

kristian darkoholic me too

[@kronosbr]

Can you install XP?

[@nelizmastr]

That wasn't the point of the discussion ;)

[@Wibinable]

I look at 3rd party benchmarks and I'm still stumped. Intel or Marvell controller, exFAT gives WAY worse performance than NTFS. This is a 320 gb 7200 rpm internal / external drive (sata/esata). Continuous write is good, maximum, but single files copies are ridiculously slow. 400 000 files takes over a day to copy according to windows.

[@FirstLast-ze1sw]

exFAT is meant for flash drives, not spinning hard drive, obv you'll get poor performance if you format a hard drive to exFAT

[@BlackEvoProductions]

+Victor Lin WRONG, exfat for large HDD is faster than NTFS. Do some testing.

[@nelizmastr]

I have 16, 8 and 4gig drives. That's more than enough. Hahaha.

[@Naturenerd1000]

Wow 64 gig flash drive!!

[@qskyq]

NTFS is read only for mac, cannot write

[@HKFLX4656]

exfat= fat32 2.0

[@OutTrainTheGame]

I dont even know wtf this is? I mean i would not be subed to u if i knew all this geek stuff :/

[@DADEISM]

Please get rid of that terrible intro music. You're buggin dude.