Convert NTFS to FAT32 in External Hard Drive without Losing Data
As you know, NTFS and FAT32 are two different file systems. NTFS is a new file system which has many advantages:
It is a recoverable file system and has the ability to repair files automatically. When the system has something wrong, this file system can quickly repair the errors, so system is not easy to crash.
It is very safe to data with its file encryption function.
It supports up to 2TB hard drive.
It owns high security and stability.
It supports single file larger than 4GB.
In addition, FAT32 is another file system. Even though FAT32 is an old file system, it is compatible in many old operating systems, such as Win95, Win98, Win2000, Win2003 and Win7 and also it is widely used in some old game consoles, like PS3/PS4. Besides, the first partition of USB flash drive is FAT32 by default. But compared to NTFS, FAT32 has a limitation in single file size and it can’t support single file larger than 4GB.
Why to Convert to FAT32
After knowing the differences between NTFS and FAT32, you should know why to convert to FAT32. NTFS is recommended to use in the hard drive due to its advantages, however, it is not always used in some old systems. FAT32 is available in the old systems and game consoles whereas NTFS can’t support. Here look at an example:
“I have an external hard drive which is in NTFS file system and I plug it into my PS4, but it cannot recognize the external hard drive. What happened?”
In fact, it is because the first partition of this hard drive is NTFS. When experiencing this case, the best way is to convert your external hard drive to FAT32.
Convert NTFS to FAT32 External Hard Drive
Disk Management
When mentioning converting from NTFS to FAT32, you probably consider using the Windows built-in Disk Management to do this work.
- Connect your external hard drive to the computer. And right click “My Computer” and select “Manage” to open Disk Management.
- Right click the target partition and select “Format”.
3. Then you can format external hard drive to FAT32 by changing the file system.
However, there are two limitations during when converting NTFS to FAT32 in external hard drive with Disk Management:
1) The data in your external hard drive will be deleted by this way. You’d better make a backup for the important files.
2) Disk Management only can format the partition which is smaller than 32GB to FAT32.
Convert to FAT32 with MiniTool Partition Wizard
When searching “convert NTFS to FAT32 external hard drive” in the internet, you can find there is another way to achieve this aim except using Disk Management. MiniTool Partition Wizard is a professional partition and disk management software which is highly recommended to you and it can make up for the deficiency of Disk Management. With this NTFS to FAT32 converter, you can easily and effectively do this work without losing data.
Step 1: Download MiniTool Partition Wizard firstly. Launch it, then go to its main interface.
Step 2: Right click the target partition and then select “Convert NTFS to FAT” or you can click this feature from “Operations” menu.
Step 3: Then you can click “Apply” to perform all operations.
With only three steps under the help of MiniTool Partition Wizard, you can easily solve “how to convert NTFS to FAT32 external hard drive without formatting or data loss” problem.
Note: When there is a need, you can also use this freeware to convert FAT32 to NTFS without data loss.