Whether you’re formatting an internal drive, external drive, USB flash drive, or SD card, Windows gives you the choice of using three different file systems: NTFS, FAT32, and exFAT. The Format dialog in Windows doesn’t explain the difference, so we will.

无论您是格式化内部驱动器，外部驱动器，USB闪存驱动器还是SD卡，Windows都可以让您选择使用三种不同的文件系统：NTFS，FAT32和exFAT。 Windows中的“格式”对话框没有说明差异，所以我们会解释。

A file system provides a way of organizing a drive. It specifies how data is stored on the drive and what types of information can be attached to files—filenames, permissions, and other attributes. Windows supports three different file systems. NTFS is the most modern file system. Windows uses NTFS for its system drive and, by default, for most non-removable drives. FAT32 is an older file system that’s not as efficient as NTFS and doesn’t support as big a feature set, but does offer greater compatibility with other operating systems. exFAT is a modern replacement for FAT32—and more devices and operating systems support it than NTFS—but it’s not nearly as widespread as FAT32.

文件系统提供了一种组织驱动器的方法。 它指定了如何将数据存储在驱动器上以及可以将哪些类型的信息附加到文件-文件名，权限和其他属性。 Windows支持三种不同的文件系统。 NTFS是最现代的文件系统。 Windows将NTFS用于其系统驱动器，默认情况下，将其用于大多数不可移动驱动器。 FAT32是较旧的文件系统，不如NTFS高效，并且不支持那么大的功能集，但确实提供了与其他操作系统的更大兼容性。 exFAT是FAT32的现代替代品-比NTFS支持更多的设备和操作系统-但它的普及程度不及FAT32。

NT文件系统(NTFS) (NT File System (NTFS))

NTFS is the modern file system Windows likes to use by default. When you install Windows, it formats your system drive with the NTFS file system. NTFS has file size and partition size limits that are so theoretically huge you won’t run up against them. NTFS first appeared in consumer versions of Windows with Windows XP, though it originally debuted with Windows NT.

NTFS是Windows默认使用的现代文件系统。 安装Windows时，它将使用NTFS文件系统格式化系统驱动器。 NTFS的文件大小和分区大小限制在理论上是如此之大，您将无法与之抗衡。 NTFS最初出现在带有Windows XP的Windows的消费者版本中，尽管它最初在Windows NT中首次出现。

NTFS is packed with modern features not available to FAT32 and exFAT. NTFS supports file permissions for security, a change journal that can help quickly recover errors if your computer crashes, shadow copies for backups, encryption, disk quota limits, hard links, and various other features. Many of these are crucial for an operating system drive—especially file permissions.

NTFS具有FAT32和exFAT所不具备的现代功能。 NTFS支持文件权限以确保安全，这是一种更改日志，可以在计算机崩溃时帮助快速恢复错误，备份的卷影副本，加密，磁盘配额限制，硬链接以及其他各种功能。 其中许多对于操作系统驱动器至关重要，尤其是文件权限。

Your Windows system partition must be NTFS. If you have a secondary drive alongside Windows and you plan on installing programs to it, you should probably go ahead and make it NTFS, too. And, if you have any drives where compatibility isn’t really an issue—because you know you’ll just be using them on Windows systems—go ahead and choose NTFS.

您的Windows系统分区必须是NTFS。 如果您在Windows旁边有一个辅助驱动器，并计划在其上安装程序，则可能也应该继续使其成为NTFS。 而且，如果您有任何兼容性都不是问题的驱动器(因为您知道将在Windows系统上使用它们)，请继续并选择NTFS。

Despite its advantages, where NTFS lacks is compatibility. It’ll work with all recent versions of Windows—all the way back to Windows XP—but it has limited compatibility with other operating systems. By default, Mac OS X can only read NTFS drives, not write to them. Some Linux distributions may enable NTFS-writing support, but some may be read-only. None of Sony’s PlayStation consoles support NTFS. Even Microsoft’s own Xbox 360 can’t read NTFS drives, although the new Xbox One can. Other devices are even less likely to support NTFS.

尽管具有优点，但NTFS缺乏的地方是兼容性。 它可以与Windows的所有最新版本(一直到Windows XP)一起使用，但与其他操作系统的兼容性有限。 默认情况下，Mac OS X只能读取NTFS驱动器，而不能写入它们 。 某些Linux发行版可能启用NTFS编写支持，但某些发行版可能是只读的。 索尼的PlayStation控制台均不支持NTFS。 尽管新的Xbox One可以读取，但即使是微软自己的Xbox 360也无法读取NTFS驱动器。 其他设备甚至不太可能支持NTFS。

Compatibility: Works with all versions of Windows, but read-only with Mac by default, and may be read-only by default with some Linux distributions. Other devices—with the exception of Microsoft’s Xbox One—probably won’t support NTFS.

兼容性 ：适用于所有版本的Windows，但默认情况下对Mac只读，在某些Linux发行版中可能默认为只读。 其他设备(Microsoft的Xbox One除外)可能不支持NTFS。

Limits: No realistic file-size or partition size limits.

限制 ：没有实际的文件大小或分区大小限制。

Ideal Use: Use it for your Windows system drive and other internal drives that will just be used with Windows.

理想使用 ：将它用于Windows系统驱动器和其他仅用于Windows的内部驱动器。

文件分配表32(FAT32) (File Allocation Table 32 (FAT32))

FAT32 is the oldest of the three file systems available to Windows. It was introduced all the way back in Windows 95 to replace the older FAT16 file system used in MS-DOS and Windows 3.

FAT32是Windows可用的三个文件系统中最早的一个。 它是在Windows 95中一直引入的，以取代MS-DOS和Windows 3中使用的较早的FAT16文件系统。

The FAT32 file system’s age has advantages and disadvantages. The big advantages is that because it’s so old, FAT32 is the de-facto standard. Flash drives you purchase will often come formatted with FAT32 for maximum compatibility across not just modern computers, but other devices like game consoles and anything with a USB port.

FAT32文件系统的时代各有利弊。 最大的优点是，因为它太旧了，FAT32是事实上的标准。 您购买的闪存驱动器通常会采用FAT32格式，以便不仅在现代计算机上而且在其他设备(例如游戏机)和任何带有USB端口的设备之间都具有最大的兼容性。

Limitations come with that age, however. Individual files on a FAT32 drive can’t be over 4 GB in size—that’s the maximum. A FAT32 partition must also be less than 8 TB, which admittedly is less of a limitation unless you’re using super-high-capacity drives.

但是，年龄限制了。 FAT32驱动器上的单个文件最大不能超过4 GB。 FAT32分区也必须小于8 TB，除非您使用的是超大容量驱动器，否则该限制不大。

While FAT32 is okay for USB flash drives and other external media—especially if you know you’ll be using them on anything other than Windows PCs—you won’t want to FAT32 for an internal drive. It lacks the permissions and other security features built into the more modern NTFS file system. Also, modern versions of Windows can no longer be installed to a drive formatted with FAT32; they must be installed to drives formatted with NTFS.

虽然FAT32可以用于USB闪存驱动器和其他外部媒体(尤其是如果您知道将在Windows PC以外的其他设备上使用它们)，则您不希望将FAT32用于内部驱动器。 它缺少更现代的NTFS文件系统中内置的权限和其他安全功能。 另外，现代版本的Windows不再可以安装到使用FAT32格式化的驱动器上。 它们必须安装到使用NTFS格式化的驱动器上。

Compatibility: Works with all versions of Windows, Mac, Linux, game consoles, and practically anything with a USB port.

兼容性 ：适用于Windows，Mac，Linux，游戏机的所有版本，以及几乎所有带有USB端口的版本。

Limits: 4 GB maximum file size, 8 TB maximum partition size.

限制 ：最大文件大小为4 GB，最大分区大小为8 TB。

Ideal Use: Use it on removable drives where you need maximum compatibility with the widest range of devices, assuming you don’t have any files 4 GB or larger in size.

理想使用 ：假设没有任何4 GB或更大的文件，请在需要与最大范围的设备最大兼容性的可移动驱动器上使用它。

扩展文件分配表(exFAT) (Extended File Allocation Table (exFAT))

The exFAT file system was introduced in 2006 and was added to older versions of Windows with updates to Windows XP and Windows Vista. exFAT is optimized for flash drives—designed to be a lightweight file system like FAT32, but without the extra features and over head of NTFS and without the limitations of FAT32.

exFAT文件系统于2006年引入，并随Windows XP和Windows Vista的更新添加到旧版Windows中。 exFAT 针对闪存驱动器进行了优化-设计为像FAT32这样的轻量级文件系统，但是没有额外的功能和NTFS的开销，也没有FAT32的限制。

Like NTFS, exFAT has very large limits on file and partition sizes., allowing you to store files much larger than the 4 GB allowed by FAT32.

像NTFS一样，exFAT在文件和分区大小上有非常大的限制。允许您存储比FAT32允许的4 GB大得多的文件。

While exFAT doesn’t quite match FAT32’s compatibility, it is more widely-compatible than NTFS. While Mac OS X includes only read-only support for NTFS, Macs offer full read-write support for exFAT. exFAT drives can be accessed on Linux by installing the appropriate software. Devices can be a bit of a mixed bag. The PlayStation 4 supports exFAT; the PlayStation 3 does not. The Xbox One supports it, but the Xbox 360 does not.

尽管exFAT与FAT32的兼容性不完全匹配，但与NTFS相比，它具有更广泛的兼容性。 虽然Mac OS X仅包含对NTFS的只读支持，但Mac提供了对exFAT的完全读写支持。 通过安装适当的软件，可以在Linux上访问exFAT驱动器。 设备可能有点混乱。 PlayStation 4支持exFAT； PlayStation 3则没有。 Xbox One支持它，但Xbox 360不支持。

Compatibility: Works with all versions of Windows and modern versions of Mac OS X, but requires additional software on Linux. More devices support exFAT than support NTFS, but some—particularly older ones—may only support FAT32.

兼容性 ：与所有版本的Windows和现代版本的Mac OS X 兼容 ，但在Linux上需要其他软件。 支持exFAT的设备比支持NTFS的设备更多，但是某些设备(尤其是较旧的设备)可能仅支持FAT32。

Limits: No realistic file-size or partition-size limits.

限制 ：没有实际的文件大小或分区大小限制。

Ideal Use: Use it when you need bigger file size and partition limits than FAT32 offers and when you need more compatibility than NTFS offers. Assuming that every device you want to use the drive with supports exFAT, you should format your device with exFAT instead of FAT32.

理想使用 ：当您需要比FAT32产品更大的文件大小和分区限制，并且需要比NTFS产品更多的兼容性时，请使用它。 假定要与该驱动器一起使用的每个设备都支持exFAT，则应使用exFAT而不是FAT32格式化设备。

NTFS is ideal for internal drives, while exFAT is generally ideal for flash drives. However, you may sometimes need to format an external drive with FAT32 if exFAT isn’t supported on a device you need to use it with.

NTFS是内部驱动器的理想选择，而exFAT通常是闪存驱动器的理想选择。 但是，如果您需要使用FAT32的设备不支持exFAT，则有时可能需要使用FAT32格式化外部驱动器。

翻译自: https://www.howtogeek.com/235596/whats-the-difference-between-fat32-exfat-and-ntfs/