How To FORMAT EXTERNAL DRIVE TO FAT32

Windows doesn’t make it obvious how to format an external drive using FAT32, but you can still use it with a little patience and slick text commands.
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Hi! My name is Sydney Butler and I’m part of the writing team at Online Tech Tips, an online tech magazine that provides daily useful computer tips in an easy to understand format. We’ll have new videos posted to the channel twice a week in which I’ll cover a wide range of tech topics, including reviews, how-to guides, tips and tricks, and lots more.
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[@GuiltyxPirate]

just use the second option guys and use the program in the description, worked straight away no fuss on my samsung 931gb Hdd

[@jeffreyculilap4847]

DISKPART> create partition primary size=470000 DiskPart succeeded in creating the specified partition. DISKPART> active DiskPart marked the current partition as active. DISKPART> format fs=fat32 0 percent completed Virtual Disk Service error: The volume size is too big.

[@kurtiszapien2499]

I get the same error too

[@modernsonicthehedgehog1998]

1:14 what do you mean by specify size in mb

[@cybermerc5208]

That's how command prompt sees storage size.

[@modernsonicthehedgehog1998]

@@cybermerc5208 a bit too late for that

[@beepisbopis9613]

I was confused about that too I really have no idea what size it is in mbs it's a 256 gb hard drive

[@stalinsmith2420]

Everything went through but then it says “virtual disk service error, the volume size is too big” what does that mean?

[@quickven]

Fat32 is for 32gigs and less so use exfat instead

[@Determinator21]

​@@quickvenain't no way I have a 1 tb hard drive that uses fat 32

[@S3NDO3]

Samsung 980 pro is doing it too. 2tb

[@jeffreyculilap4847]

No usable free extent could be found. It may be that there is insufficient free space to create a partition at the specified size and offset. Specify different size and offset values or don't specify either to create the maximum sized partition. It may be that the disk is partitioned using the MBR disk partitioning format and the disk contains either 4 primary partitions, (no more partitions may be created), or 3 primary partitions and one extended partition, (only logical drives may be created). (Its says)

[@jeffreyculilap4847]

@@iamme8037 still not working

[@nazrihasbun2435]

@@jeffreyculilap4847 when you select the disk, type "clean" to get the free space

[@mauriciovillarreal1794]

@@jeffreyculilap4847 use clean command first before partition

[@kashaniqbal6933]

I got the same message

[@Matt2003xd]

this tutorial caused me an uncountable number of errors on my external drive but I learned a lot, thanks

[@sicdav1d0ff]

No usable free extent could be found. It may be that there is insufficient free space to create a partition at the specified size and offset. Specify different size and offset values or don't specify either......... I got this error countless times. The solution for me was to reduce my disk to 32GB, so i put in size=31999. You will only be able to use 32GB like this, but you usually need fat32 for old devices with smaller size data anyway.

[@ebee-uz1oz]

wow, my old drive does NOT want to be formatted, its throwing everything at me to not do it.....and there's nothing on it

[@843Chadwick]

This is an AMAZING tutorial lol... Command Prompt just bypasses so much downloading. W vid.

[@Online-Tech-Tips]

Glad we could help :)

[@lastshot1.228]

if your having a problem with an error reading size is to large type clean disk then exit then do the following steps but with your amount as 32000 and it will work

[@dev_team6448]

If you're unable to find the FAT32 option directly, you can work around it by creating a partition of around 8 GB, or the desired size, and then right-clicking the drive in File Explorer. From there, select "Format" and opt for FAT32 as the file system. This method allows you to format the smaller partition as FAT32. how to create a partition Open Disk Management: Press Win + X on your keyboard. Choose "Disk Management" from the menu that appears. Locate the Drive: Disk Management displays a list of all connected drives. Right-click on the drive that you want to partition. Shrink the Volume: Select "Shrink Volume." Enter the amount of space you want for the new partition (in MB) and click "Shrink." A new unallocated space will be created. Create a New Partition: Right-click on the unallocated space. Choose "New Simple Volume." Follow the wizard to specify the size, assign a drive letter, and select formatting options. Select FAT32 File System: When prompted for the file system, choose "FAT32" from the dropdown menu. Complete the wizard to create and format the partition.

[@findyoufinally4161]

Yo FAT32 Didn't appear at dropdown menu.

[@dev_team6448]

@findyoufinally4161 how many gigs is your drive ? if it's over a certain amount of gigs it won't show fat 32.

[@BLAZE..44.]

You are the savoir of computers Plus you gave a simple method

[@jjyoung8732]

How can you do it when your external hard drive is drive D?

[@venepskeuten9206]

this was simple and easy to follow. Thank you

[@Online-Tech-Tips]

You're welcome!

[@idek3867]

Is it normal that it only goes up by 1% once every 10 minutes?

[@FORMINGSHADOWS]

Its doing that for me too im on 25% after 30 minutes

[@johnluke5437]

@@FORMINGSHADOWS Mines is stuck at 0 percent

[@FORMINGSHADOWS]

@@johnluke5437 It took about an hour for me in total

[@thekrazedkat7831]

If your having difficulties, try doing “format fs=fat32 quick”. Mine was done in seconds doing that

[@xx_ars_enic_xx2831]

But if you format the big hhd to fat32 it's going to do split partitions as fat 32 only support up to 500gb so that readers it pointless?

[@madooali5832]

Thank you very much!

[@BensRantNation]

Doesn't work on a 4T hard drive Virtual Disk Service error: There is not enough usable space for this operation.

[@jiggrinder]

Works great using that tool,thanks !!!

[@johnpetrachkoff9774]

Your are fantastic !! Thank you so much !!

[@bcu567obzx]

Very nicely presented, thank you very much

[@Dazbog88]

Very helpful, thanks!

[@baggytony]

FAT32 LEGEND the 2nd option worked for my bipra 320GB hard drive I tried 5 different options on different videos

[@iTzMobieTV]

didnt work for me, says not enough usable space on the disk but i deleted everything off of it and also it has 1 tb of free space sooooo what am i doing wrong here. this happens when i create partition primary

[@ThatsDankest]

Same I’m still trying to figure this out

[@dizzy2900]

for me too

[@davidvrana6360]

Thank You soooo much! =)

[@kohana6801]

My dude I am rlly-- sorry...I wasn't in videos lately,I have exams :''))) I promise that I will be active on videos in summer ToT Your videos are really nice

[@SydneyButler]

Thanks! I really appreciate the support :)

[@PhoenixOnYTB]

​@@SydneyButler 💀

[@susanpark3451]

Is there a way to do this for mac not windows

[@danbigboss6484]

@Online Tech Tips Im getting crazy i REALLY need your help. I tried EVERYTHING to finally found your tutorial. problem is that the command promt dont work and when i try using your 2th method with the program provided IT WONT allow me to format FAT32 the ENTIRE 4TB externall HDD (im on windows 10) did you know why and HOW to proceed ?

[@danbigboss6484]

EDIT : I REALLY doubt you will ever answer seeing how you answer question on your chanel but i will definitelly tell you your method DONT work and WILL NOT for anyone trying to FAT32 format any external hdd HIGHER than 2TB on windows 10 and higher.....To Achieve this feat one must do it on a window 7 or XP operating system !

[@munnapatowary4550]

500gb hdd how should i type number of command prompt

[@shanigunawardena4880]

I tried this with a 1TB Sandisk. it did not work. error says - "no usable free extentcould be found...."

[@wofuldragoon5648]

My disk is showing 0B are free when I'm in the command Prompt. Why ?

[@ekirtman]

me too

[@tylersommer1]

same..

[@tylersommer1]

you have to go into disk management and delete the volume

[@ss316eater]

Right click on the Windows start button. Disk management, select your drive, hit action>all tasks>delete volume

[@wofuldragoon5648]

@@ss316eater thanks, I'll try this

[@TinyFord1]

Top result and the guy got a proprr South African accent so I’m happy

[@idek3867]

Man I spent pretty much my entire day making it a fat32 and then it failed 🙃 I really can't get it to work

[@danbigboss6484]

whats the size of your HDD ?

[@LiviuDragon]

I want to format a 1TB SSD external from samsung

[@findyoufinally4161]

Its take almost 2 hour for reaching 100 percent complete

[@danzos8959]

i was staring at 0 percent for so long i thought it wasnt working

[@Auraxen]

Didn't work Easeus can't format it, breaks at 95% everytime. Command prompt doesn't work, copied the command and gives an error saying no free extent can be found.

[@OldLion64]

Thanks. Software is only free to 8TB. Using command prompt how do I allocate 1 TB for system and the rest for storage?

[@YourDadWithTheMilk304]

Create a partition

[@keseltje]

Great, thnx!

[@josephmullen3254]

Hi my one touch seagate hard drive won't format to fat32 for me

[@xx_ars_enic_xx2831]

So effectively it will only make a portion of the bigger hhd fat 32 not the full drive

[@-Rottenapple-]

I assume this wont work with 8tb drive?

[@cannonballjenkins2757]

I tried formatting but it said it was too big, what a weird error

[@TheFutureIcon94]

Thank you so much!! EaseUS did the job!

[@xx_ars_enic_xx2831]

Meaning that renders it pointless you follow?

[@idek3867]

I have a 465GB hard disk, but under "free" it says 1024KB. How do I fix this? Edit: I figured it out

[@taddytee5677]

Me too What'd you do?

[@phamtan1205]

don't download anything from Tonershare it's tricky business, nothing free, it's costly

[@NSWvet83]

After typing format fs=fat32 would I get "0 percent complete"? Also cmd prompt seems to have froze. I checked CPU management and the disk says it's "Formatting" but it's been like 5 min.

[@tylersommer1]

think it just takes a fat minute

[@NSWvet83]

@@tylersommer1 🤣

[@lamboware9058]

samething I keep getting and I did all the steps correct, would be nice if he would respond tho

[@learningtolivewithpeacelove]

Firestick will not recognize the USB drive that has been converted to FAT32.. i’ve tried every trick in the book, but I cannot get it to work. I am using the OTG adapter, and the fire stick itself works just fine, but it is not recognizing there is an external storage. i’m on hour# 7 and I don’t think I can take much more so if anybody has any suggestions or help or knows a number I could call I would greatly appreciate it

[@kippercat123]

dont feel bad. I have a 1 terabyte hd that im trying to format to FAT 32 like the world is telling me but cant figure out how to do it. NOW the smaller memory sticks are showing up on the Firestick but 32 gigs is not much space in the scheme of things and aint worth the trouble . I will get it done OR take that HD to the computer man uptown.

[@danielmatas5673]

Im getting drive is too big message

[@MikeBaguyo]

If I have a hard drive with 2 partitions, 1 exfat and 1 ntfs, and I want to format the exfat to fat32, will this method won't affect the ntfs partition?

[@OldLion64]

Is there a max size this only works for? I tried as small as 4Tb and got an error

[@SydneyButler]

4GB is the maximum for FAT 32. So you'll either have to create a partition of that size on the disk or switch to EXFAT. This tutorial is mainly for devices that can ONLY read FAT32, which is usually something like older cameras or TVs.

[@djstretchtone9851]

@@SydneyButler sorry to ask a dumb question. But you know those hard drives that you see it Costco Sam's Walmart, and but most of them you can read and write I believe. My question is can you Fa5 32 those drives for DJ music library back ups as long as they're less than 4 TB ??

[@ss316eater]

you will have to know the partition sizes that work for the drive your using... I had to type size=16000 on my 64GB drive

[@danbigboss6484]

@@SydneyButler fuck then i will go back windows 7 !

[@keithharding]

Doesnt work for 750gb drive

[@gransflans]

worked

[@riteshknayak]

🔥🔥🔥

[@PhoenixOnYTB]

What is mb

[@Matt2003xd]

megabytes

[@WASD-MVME]

👍

[@timlan165]

Ich küsse dein Herz

[@johnluke5437]

This broke my hardrive

[@johnluke5437]

My laptop is not able to read my hardrive, any fixes?

[@samholmes4275]

i just lost 256gb hard drive down to 30mb ,dont do it ,thanks a lot online tech tip you cost me over $100 256gb drive

[@thehammerofnorth2683]

I mean, it said to make a back up file if you don't want to loose all your data at 0:33...

[@IDKjustCJ]

L

[@jenovaizquierdo]

You didn’t lose 256BG you can still format the entire drive to get the entire HD, the rest of the drive is unallocated space, that is why you only see 30MB.

[@ConstantDistres5]

Orrr you could’ve actually read what was said at 0:33 but good on you i guess