How to Format SD Card to FAT32

Be called a storage device, the SD card is an external media that is going to store that additional information for you. Compatible with all the devices i.e. Android, iOS, windows, sometimes the format working on the SD card is not compatible with certain devices that need to be fixed for allowing the functionality of this storage media. Hence, the easy and acceptable format can be a FAT32 and all you can do is simply format SD card FAT32 and change it to FAT32 SD card.

Below mentioned are the significant ways in which you can format SD card to FAT32 along with stepwise procedures depending on the storage capacity of each SD card.

Part 1: What is the FAT32 Format?

Before heading to the way to format SD card to FAT32, let's clear the concept regarding the FAT32 format. What it is. Starting with its abbreviation, FAT stands for File Allocation Table. FAT32 Format is said to be a disk formatting utility established to format the discs larger than 32GB in storage capacity with the venerable FAT32 classification system. Some operational systems programs or experiments solely need or support FAT32.

It's designed exclusively for Windows XP which strives quite a long way as compared to the other operating systems. This format is not compatible with CD and DVD drives as it only works well with the drives that comprise of 512-byte sectors. It efficiently works with all the available versions of Windows, game consoles, Linux, and Mac. The attributes provided by the FAT32 format are Read-only, Hidden, System, Volume, Directory, and Archive.

Now once you are familiar with this FAT32 format, the next step is to move on the core point i.e. format SD card to FAT32.

So without any delay, here is what you need to know about different questions related to formatting SD card FAT32 with various storage capacities.

Part 2. How to Format 32GB or Smaller SD Card to FAT32?

Method 1. Using Windows Disk Management

Starting with the formatting option present on your device, the easiest solution is to use the windows disk management to format microSD to FAT32 i.e. an SD card with 32GB capacity or smaller. This build-in tool is easy to use and one can also vividly understand the GUI for it. The Windows Disk Management offers NTFS, FAT, FAT32, and exFAT formats.

Here are the steps to follow that will format microSD to FAT32.

1. Start with the Run diskmgmt.msc at CMD. There appears the Disk Management utility. Here you can find the SD card that you want to format and then select the option of Format from the right-click menu.

   

2. In the format dialogue box, you can customize the volume label, file system, and allocation unit size. You can select whether you need to perform a quick format along with enabling the folder compression, now click OK to proceed.

   

3. A disk management warning message will appear on your screen i.e. Formatting this volume will erase all data on it. Back up any data you want to keep before formatting. Do you want to continue? Here you have to select Ok to proceed with formatting microSD to FAT32.

   

You are all done with formatting microSD to FAT32 in mere minutes.

Method 2. With Windows Explorer

Apart from the windows disk management, there also exists a potential alternation with which you can format microSD to FAT32. Using windows explorer in this stance, all you have to follow is this mentioned step-wise process and you will be done with formatting in a few seconds.

Let's get started!

1. You have to select Format in GUI with a right-click.

   

2. Next step is again you have to choose the file system & allocation unit size, enter a volume label, select a quick format suitable for you. Click Start to continue.

   

3. Here you will witness a warning message saying 'Formatting will erase ALL data on this disk. To format the disk, click OK. To quit, click "CANCEL'. For continuing the format, click OK.

   

Once clicking Ok, the formatting process will start and soon you will be done with your desired action.

Method 3. Using Diskpart

Using Diskpart for proceeding to format microSD to FAT32 (32GB or smaller) is a useful and quick fix to go for formatting. This is even going to work when the data in the card is showing RAW. Let's check how Diskpart can help in this reference.

1. Start with running the Diskpart as administrator. For this, you can type Diskpart in the search box or press Windows + R simultaneously, select Diskpart, and click Ok. Diskpart will run as an administrator.
2. Nextly, you have to input the List disk to access all disk available on the device.
3. Proceed with 'select disk n' command where 'n' stands for disk number of SD card.
4. Create a list partition on the SD card by running List Partition.
5. Now select the partition "m" which is going to represent the SD card partition you need.
6. Lastly run the 'format fs=fat32 quick' command and you are done with all actions.

Part 3: How to Format 64/128GB SD Card to FAT32 | 3 Methods

Formatting an SD card using CMD is one of the most powerful formatting methods. But there are a few instances when this may fail. If you get an error message, then the following could be the causes. We offer some solutions on how to fix these issues.

Method 1. Using FAT32 Format Tool

One of the efficient FAT32 format tools, be it a third-party application software, the FAT32 is at your service to format those larger USB drives or SD cards i.e. format 64GB SD card to FAT32 and format 128GBSD card to FAT32. It carries the option of a portable app. So the choice is yours. Either download and install the application on your device (PC) or get their app and you are free to use even on your mobiles.

Follow this stepwise procedure to format a 64GB SD card to FAT32 and format the 128GBSD card to FAT32.

1. Once downloaded, the FAT32 window will appear on the screen, select the drive, and add the volume label. Now check the box of Quick format and click Start to proceed.

   

2. You will get a warning message i.e. 'Do you format the drive? All data will be lost!' Click Ok to continue formatting.

   

All done! Continue your desired actions. In case you are dealing with a 64GB SD card and you want to format a 64GB SD card to FAT32, all the steps are the same as mentioned above.

Method 2. Using HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool

Another tool we can use to format the 64GB SD card into FAT32 is the HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool, which is a free and lightweight option that you can trust on formatting the SD card to FAT32. Search and find the HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool on Softpedia, and click Download Now. Then, follow the instruction to select the download source, save the file on your computer and complete the download and install process.

URL to get the tool: https://www.softpedia.com/get/System/Hard-Disk-Utils/HP-USB-Disk-Storage-Format-Tool.shtml

1. Find and right-click the HPUSBDisk.exe in File Explorer, and select Run as administrator.
2. Click the Device dropdown, then select your SD card.

   

3. After that, click File system, and select FAT32.

   

4. If you’re ready, then click Start to initiate the process.

Method 3. With PowerShell

PowerShell is used to format the SD card to FAT 32. It helps in action like format 64GB SD card to FAT32 and format 128GBSD card to FAT32. It facilitates the users to go for formatting without downloading the third party application software.

Below are the steps you can follow to format the SD card to FAT32.

1. Press Windows+X. Select PowerShell (admin) from the drop-down and run PowerShell as administrator.

   

2. In the PowerShell dialogue box, type a command i.e. format /FS: FAT32 X: and click Enter.

   

3. The formatting action will start and would be completed in approximately one hour.

Part 4. How to Format SD Card to FAT32 on Mac

To format SD card to FAT32 on Mac, you can use the built-in Disk Utility tool. And it all works no matter the size of the card.

Here are the step-by-step guide:

1. Enter Disk Utility.

   

2. Select your SD card in the external section. Then, click Erase.

   

3. If you need, you can fill a different name in the Name section.
4. Click Format drop down and select MS-DOS(FAT), which is the same as the FAT32 option chose on Windows.

   

5. Click Erase, then the format process will get started.

You may be also interested in SD card repair tools.

How to Recover and Repair Data from Formatted SD Card

Dealing with repairing and recovering data from formatted SD card is quite a process. In reality, the data said to be formatted from the SD card is always there but only gets inaccessible. So to recover and repair the data from the formatted SD card, you need third-party software. And what else can be beneficial than Recoverit data recovery!

Recoverit Data Recovery is a powerful data recovery software that helps you get back all your valuable documents, emails, photos, videos, and audio files, quickly and easily from the laptop, recycle bin/trash, internal hard drive, external storage media and even a crashed computer. Not only recover files from memory cards, Recoverit Ultimate also helps you recover fragmented video and repair corrupt/broken/damaged video too.

As a potential example of functionality for the software, here is the following:

How to Recover Data from SD Card Using Wondershare Recoverit?

Being an apt software for recovering lost files from the formatted SD cards, Recoverit provides recovered files with their original names and date of creation. Providing a wide range of compatible video formats you can recover the videos. It provides deep scanning and a preview before saving the data.

The following are steps to recover data from a formatted SD card with Recoverit.

1. Start with SD Card. Connect the formatted sd card to your computer, and select it from the list.

   

2. Proceeding with scanning the location.

   

3. Once the scan is complete, go for looking at the preview. Then, select a location to store the recovered files.

   

Video Tutorial on How to Recover Lost Files from SD Card