Windows 10: Can I change it to exfat without formatting?

Discus and support Can I change it to exfat without formatting? in Windows 10 Ask Insider to solve the problem; So I have a 2tb external hard drive. It's formatted in fat 32 but I want it to be exfat. To do so I would have to format it to exfat. But the problem... Discussion in 'Windows 10 Ask Insider' started by /u/RainBowSwift71532, Jan 9, 2021.

  1. /U/RAINBOWSWIFT71532
    /u/RainBowSwift71532 Win User

    Can I change it to exfat without formatting?


    So I have a 2tb external hard drive. It's formatted in fat 32 but I want it to be exfat. To do so I would have to format it to exfat. But the problem is I have no other hard drive to back up all my flies. So I was wondering if there's a way I can change my hard drive to exfat without formatting it and losing all my data.

    submitted by /u/RainBowSwift71532
    [link] [comments]

    :)
     
    /u/RainBowSwift71532, Jan 9, 2021
    #1
  2. MARQUE LOR
    Marque Lor Win User

    Formating to exFAT

    Hi Taylor,

    If you want to format an external hard drive or USB flash drive in exFAT, you can follow these steps:



    • Press and hold Windows key + x on your keyboard. This open the context menu.
    • Select Command Prompt (Admin).
    • Type format g: /FS:exFAT and then Enter to begin formatting the G drive as exFAT
    For any query, feel free to reach us.
     
    Marque Lor, Jan 9, 2021
    #2
  3. MARQUE LOR
    Marque Lor Win User
    Formating to exFAT

    If that's the case, you might need to use a format manager software, but you can try these other steps first.

    Kindly follow the instructions below:

    • Insert the USB flash drive into the USB port.
    • Type devmgmt.msc in the Search textbox beside the Windows icon and press
      Enter.
    • Find Disk Drives and expand it.
    • Find the USB flash drive you want to format, and double-click it. It opens the Properties dialog box.
    • Click Policies tab.
    • By default, the Optimize for quick removal option selected, switch it to
      Optimize for performance and then press OK.
    • Now open Computer. Right click on the USB Flash Drive and select
      Format. The Format dialog box now appears.
    • Select exFAT in the File System field.
    • Press Start and wait while the process is completed.

    Let us know how this goes.
     
    Marque Lor, Jan 9, 2021
    #3
  4. BRANDON94_868
    Brandon94_868 Win User

    Can I change it to exfat without formatting?

    exFAT Format with Windows 10

    I can not format my external HDD from NTFS to exFAT on windows 10. All my drivers are updated and every time I start format it fails instantly. Anybody have any suggestions or know how to fix this? I was trying to use it for my ps4 so I can back up games
    and save data but I cant do that without it being in exFAT format. Please help?

    Edit: I got it to work finally. I had to do it on a mac and it worked instantly.
     
    Brandon94_868, Jan 9, 2021
    #4
Thema:

Can I change it to exfat without formatting?

Loading...

  1. Can I change it to exfat without formatting? - Similar Threads - change exfat without

  2. usb drive broken after trying to format it as exfat

    in Windows 10 Software and Apps
    usb drive broken after trying to format it as exfat: I needed my 64gb usb thumb drive at full capacity after using it as windows format drive which made it 32gb drive. Windows showed a window saying format failed while I was waiting it to be in exfat format. I tried to use disk manager and list disk thing but It doesn't show up...

  3. Format flash drive exFAT

    in Windows 10 Gaming
    Format flash drive exFAT: Format flash drive exFAT https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/format-flash-drive-exfat/9b4ae7be-66d8-4279-8e68-fb2d07745b31

  4. Format flash drive exFAT

    in Windows 10 Software and Apps
    Format flash drive exFAT: Format flash drive exFAT https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/format-flash-drive-exfat/9b4ae7be-66d8-4279-8e68-fb2d07745b31

  5. Corrupted USB Drive in exFat format

    in Windows 10 Customization
    Corrupted USB Drive in exFat format: I was doing a backup of some files from my laptop to my 1TB USB Drive in exFat format.During the file transfer, the progress suddenly stopped and I got the message "The Semaphore Timeout Period Has Expired". The file explorer freezed and I was forced the end the process. Then...

  6. What to format larger USB sticks with? NTFS? exFAT?

    in Windows 10 Ask Insider
    What to format larger USB sticks with? NTFS? exFAT?: I bought a few 32GB sticks the other day. They came formatted with FAT32. Immediately I had trouble copying the Win10 20H2 ISO to it (greater than 4GB). Formatting to NTFS solved it of course. But I'm curious if, for use as a general USB stick (plugging it into Windows,...

  7. Flashdrive undetected by Windows after formatting to exFAT

    in Windows 10 Drivers and Hardware
    Flashdrive undetected by Windows after formatting to exFAT: I formatted a flashdrive in a Macbook to exfat. When I plugged it in to my Windows laptop, it was initially working. However, when I was transferring the backed up files to the flashdrive, the process stopped and it seems that Windows is not detecting the flashdrive anymore....

  8. Flashdrive undetected by Windows after formatting to exfat

    in Windows 10 Ask Insider
    Flashdrive undetected by Windows after formatting to exfat: I formatted a flashdrive in a Macbook to exfat. When I plugged it in to my Windows laptop, it was initially working. However, when I was transferring the backed up files to the flashdrive, the process stopped and it seems that Windows is not detecting the flashdrive anymore....

  9. .gz file will not transfer to exFAT formatted USB disc

    in Windows 10 Network and Sharing
    .gz file will not transfer to exFAT formatted USB disc: I have a compressed .gz file that is 10,448,012 KB in size that I'm attempting to copy to a USB drive. The software supplier specified that the drive must be formatted as exFAT and have a minimum of 16 KB of storage space. I bought a 3.0 Scandisk drive with 32 KB of storage...

  10. How do I convert an NTFS external HDD to exFAT without formatting

    in Windows 10 Network and Sharing
    How do I convert an NTFS external HDD to exFAT without formatting: Pretty self explanatory. I want to use my external HDD on more devices, like Macs, but I know OSX or Ubuntu Linux can't read or write to NTFS drives. I just want to know if it's possible to convert it from NTFS to exFAT without formatting the thing, and if it is I want to...