USB sticks or pen drives have become very useful tools for transferring information, as they allow you to save photos, videos, music, among other types of files. The only problem with these storage units is that, on certain occasions, it is impossible to copy very large files that exceed the 4GB, despite the fact that the memory has a greater capacity. For what is this? Here we will solve that doubt.
Currently, the majority of USBs sold in commercial establishments come in the format FAT32. If you are not familiar with this term, you should know that it is a file system created more than twenty years ago, when Windows 95 was the software of the day. Although it is compatible with Windows, macOS and Linux, it has a limitation: it does not support files that are larger than 4GB.
YOU CAN SEE: How to turn your cell phone into a webcam for your Zoom or Google Meet meetings?
In other words, if you downloaded a movie in high resolution and want to pass it on to a friend through a USB memory, you won’t be able to do it, since that multimedia file most likely weighs more than 4 GB. It doesn’t matter if your flash drive is 1TB in capacity, it will be impossible for you to copy it. Fortunately, there is a way around it and that is to change the format to exFAT or NTFS.
Contents
How to change the format of your USB?
1. Plug the pen drive into a computer. Make sure it doesn’t have important files, if there are, copy them to the hard drive.
2. Now you will have to right click on the USB and choose the format option.
3. A window will appear, where it will tell you that the memory is formatted in FAT 32.
4. You will have to change to exFAT or NTFS.
5. Additionally, you must select the quick format option.
6. Press the start button and wait a few seconds.
7. That would be it. Your USB will now allow you to save files that are larger than 4 GB.
Are there any consequences?
On its technical support page, the SanDisk company ensures that the file system exFAT usually incompatible with some SmartTV or operating systems that were released a long time ago. On the other hand, if you decide to format to NTFS any storage unit, you will be decreasing its life expectancy. Also, Macs will not be able to write to your USB, only read it.