Microsoft seems to be removing the FAT32 partition size limit as in the latest release in the Canary channel on Windows 11 it allowed a maximum size of 2TB.
We read in the announcement by Amanda Langowski and Brandon LeBlanc on Windows Insider: "When formatting drives from the command line using the format command, we've increased the FAT32 size limit from 32GB to 2TB."
Previously, despite this artificial limit of 32 GB, Windows systems could read larger FAT32 file systems, but only if these were created by other operating systems or through alternative methods (e.g., from a Windows PowerShell prompt with administrator rights or using third-party applications that ignored this artificial size limit).
This change was introduced in Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27686 for Windows Insiders in the Canary Channel. Logically, at some point it will also reach the fixed channel and become widely available.
When it's done Windows 11 users will be able to use it format command from a command line to create partitions up to 2 TB without having to install third-party applications or use PowerShell.
However, it is important to note that the Windows GUI-based disk format tool will still have the same artificial size limit of 32 GB for FAT32 file systems.
FAT32 is not widely used today. Even SD cards now use exFAT. After all, FAT32 has other limitations for the modern world, such as a file size limit of up to 4 GB.
So the move seems to be more about fixing a dead historical file system than a practical change that will affect people today.
In a 2021 video on his YouTube channel “Dave's Garage,” retired Microsoft systems engineer Dave Plummer explained why he chose the 32GB partition limit.
When he chose the "a rainy Tuesday morning" threshold in the mid-90s, he thought it would have an extremely short lifespan and see an increase in the next revision. "I picked the 32GB number as my limit and went about my day," he said. "I didn't start to regret that choice until SD cards hit the magic 32GB size a few years later."
