How to create a FAT32 partition

Updated: 08/31/2020 by Computer Hope
Computer hard drive

To utilize FAT32, you must be running Windows 95 OSR2, Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows XP or above.

Note

When creating a FAT32 partition, you must delete the pre-existing partition and then create the FAT32 partition. If you don't want to delete the data on the partition, you can convert the existing filesystem to FAT32 using a utility such as Partition Magic. Or, if you are running Windows 98, you can use the convert utility located under Start, Programs, Accessories, and then System Tools.

When ready to create the partition, if a partition already exists, delete the partition.

Once no partitions are present on the computer, exit fdisk. Back at the MS-DOS prompt, type fdisk to enter fdisk again. The first fdisk screen should prompt about enabling large disk support. Clicking YES at the prompt enables large disk support (FAT32). Back in the fdisk main menu, create a primary partition.