NTFS vs FAT vs exFAT

Operating System support

File System Operating System
NTFS Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows 2003 Server, Windows 2008, Windows Vista, Windows 7
NTFS5 Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows 2003 Server, Windows 2008, Windows Vista, Windows 7, 8, 10, 11
exFAT Windows CE 6.0, Windows Vista SP1, Windows 7, WinXP+KB955704
FAT32 DOS 7.0 and higher, Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2019, 2022, Windows Vista, Windows 7, 8, 10, 11
FAT16 DOS, All versions of Microsoft Windows
FAT12 DOS, All versions of Microsoft Windows

Limitations

NTFS5 NTFS exFAT FAT32 FAT16 FAT12
Max Volume Size 264 clusters – 1 cluster 232 clusters – 1 cluster 128PB 32GB for all OS, 2TB for some OS 2GB for all OS, 4GB for some OS 16MB
Max Files on Volume 4,294,967,295 (232 - 1) 4,294,967,295 (232 - 1) Nearly Unlimited 4194304 65536
Max File Size 264 bytes (16 ExaBytes) minus 1KB 244 bytes (16 TeraBytes) minus 64KB 16EB 4GB minus 2 Bytes 2GB (Limit Only by Volume Size) 16MB (Limit Only by Volume Size)
Max Clusters Number 264 clusters – 1 cluster 232 clusters – 1 cluster 4294967295 4177918 65520 4080
Max File Name Length Up to 255 Up to 255 Up to 255 Up to 255 Standard - 8.3 Extended - up to 255 Up to 254

File System Features

NTFS5 NTFS exFAT FAT32 FAT16 FAT12
Unicode File Names Unicode Character Set Unicode Character Set Unicode Character Set System Character Set System Character Set System Character Set
System Records Mirror MFT Mirror File MFT Mirror File No Second Copy of FAT Second Copy of FAT Second Copy of FAT
Boot Sector Location First and Last Sectors First and Last Sectors Sectors 0 to 11 Copy in 12 to 23 First Sector and Copy in Sector #6 First Sector First Sector
File Attributes Standard and Custom Standard and Custom Standard Set Standard Set Standard Set Standard Set
Alternate Streams Yes Yes No No No No
Compression Yes Yes No No No No
Encryption Yes No No No No No
Object Permissions Yes Yes Yes No No No
Disk Quotas Yes No No No No No
Sparse Files Yes No No No No No
Reparse Points Yes No No No No No
Volume Mount Points Yes No No No No No

Overall Performance

NTFS5 NTFS exFAT FAT32 FAT16 FAT12
Built-In Security Yes Yes Yes minimal ACL only No No No
Recoverability Yes Yes Yes if TFAT activated No No No
Performance Low on small volumes High on Large Low on small volumes High on Large High High on small volumes Low on large Highest on small volumes Low on large High
Disk Space Economy Max Max Max Average Minimal on large volumes Max
Fault Tolerance Max Max Yes if TFAT activated Minimal Average Average

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