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25 June 2019  Jennifer Thatcher  Technology Manager of Test Dept.
 

Summary
Disk Management and the Diskpart command set in Windows can facilitate us to format the SD card. Yet, why Windows OS is unable to format the 64GB/128GB SD card to FAT32? How to format such SD cards to FAT32? All in this essay!



format micro sd card to fat32

What is FAT32? Why should be FAT32?

FAT32 is a file system utilized the 32-bit file allocation table. This file system breaks the limit of FAT16 which can only support a file at 2GB, more powerful for disk management. Theoretically, FAT32 can uphold a file at 4GB and manage a partition at 8TB. Yet, in fact, the formatting setup on Windows OS is merely able to create the FAT32 file system up to 32GB.
Compared with the other file systems, such as NTFS and exFAT, FAT32 is mediocre. It doesn’t feature on some modern functions, but its high compatibility allows it to be used in various operating systems and devices. If your SD card does not contain any files which is larger than 4GB and is used in various operating systems and devices, it should be FAT32.

Why is Windows OS Unable to Format SD Card to FAT32?

Disk Management and the command Diskpart are tools to format SD cards in Windows OS. Yet, when we are formatting the 64GB/128GB SD card to FAT32, Diskpart will remind us “Virtual Disk Service error: The volume size is too big”. Then, if you try to use Disk Management, it will not offer you FAT32 to choose. Why?
the volume size is too big
cannot format sd card to fat32
In fact, Windows OS cannot format the storage device to FAT32 if it is over 32GB. The 64GB/128GB SD card is over the limitation.

How to Format 64GB/128GB SD Card to FAT32?

Although the SD card over 32GB cannot be formatted to FAT32 by the built-in tools in Windows OS, it can be on Mac OS. Just follow this way: [Launchpad] > [Disk Utility] > [Select the target SD card] > [Erase] > [Ms-DOS (FAT)].
how to format usb or sd card on mac
Windows users can format the SD card with the third-party software.

Use FAT32 Format to Format SD Card

FAT32 Format is the free formatting software that is specifically used to format SD cards/USB flash drives/disk to the FAT32 file system. It runs fast and uphold the SD card over 32GB. The formatting details are as below:
① First, download and launch FAT32 Format.

② Connect the 64GB/128GB SD card to PC and select the target drive letter.

③ Check [Quick Format] and click [Start] to format the SD card.

use fat32 format to format the sd card to fat32
Note!The above steps will erase all data on the SD card. Please back up well at first. If you forget to do so, the next part can help you recover the data.

Use Renee Undeleter to Recover SD Card

Renee Undeleter is professional software for data recovery. It upholds to quickly recover various files including the accidentally deleted/formatted SD card. Renee Undeleter, designed with three scan modes, fast partition scan, whole partition scan and whole disk scan, surely fulfill all your needs in data recovery.
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Supported System Windows 10, 8.1, 8, 7, Vista, XP, 2000 and Mac OS X10.6, 10.7, 10.8.

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Recover different file formats Support to recover multiple file types

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① Download and install Renee Undeleter. Then connect the SD card to PC.
② Open the software and select one of the scan modes, such as [Whole Partition Scan].
select whole partition scan in renee undeleter
③ Select the target SD card and click [Next].
Renee Undeleter Whole Partition Scan
④ Then, the SD card will be scanned. Check the target file types and click [Recover].
preview and select the files to recover in renee undeleter
⑤ Select the output destination and then click [Recover] to save the recovered data.
select the output folder for usb or sd card recovery session in renee undeleter