)}}(encoding in UTF-16>UTF-16LE){{cn|date=February 2023}}| dates_recorded = Creation, last modified, last access| date_range = 1980-01-01 to 2107-12-31| date_resolution = 10 ms| forks_streams = No| attributes = Read-only, hidden, system, subdirectory, archive

Access-control list>ACL (Windows CE 6 only)| compression = No

Encrypting File System>EFS supported in Windows 10 v1607 and Windows Server 2016 or later.

Windows Embedded CE 6.0
Windows XP (including x64) SP2 and later (optional)
Windows Server 2003 SP2 (optional)
Windows Vista SP1 and later
Windows 7
Windows 8
Windows 10
Windows 11
Windows Server 2008
Windows Server 2008 R2
Linux (mainline kernel driver for kernels 5.4 and laterWEB,weblink The 5.4 kernel has been released, corbet, 2019-11-25, LWN.net, 2019-12-01, and FUSE)
Mac OS X 10.6.5 and laterWEB,weblink Mac OS X 10.6.5 Notes: exFAT Support, AirPrint, Flash Player Vulnerability Fixes, en, Eric Slivka, 2010-11-11, MacRumors, 2023-12-26,
Android 13 and some devices running previous versions
Some iOS devices}}| variants = | data_deduplication =

}}exFAT (Extensible File Allocation Table) is a file system introduced by Microsoft in 2006 and optimized for flash memory such as USB flash drives and SD cards. exFAT was proprietary until 28 August 2019, when Microsoft published its specification.WEB,weblink exFAT Specification, Microsoft, August 28, 2019, live,weblink 2020-07-19, Microsoft owns patents on several elements of its design.exFAT can be used where NTFS is not a feasible solution (due to data-structure overhead), but where a greater file-size limit than that of the standard FAT32 file system (i.e. 4 GB) is required.exFAT has been adopted by the SD Association as the default file system for SDXC cards larger than 32 GB.

History

exFAT was introduced in late 2006 as part of Windows CE 6.0, an embedded Windows operating system. Support was added to regular Windows with Windows Vista Service Pack 1 and Windows Server 2008, both released on February 4, 2008. An update for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 was later released.Most of the vendors signing on for licenses are manufacturers of embedded systems or device manufacturers that produce media formatted with exFAT. The entire File Allocation Table (FAT) family, exFAT included, is used for embedded systems because it is lightweight and is better suited for solutions that have low memory and low power requirements, and can be easily implemented in firmware.

Features

Because file size references are stored in eight instead of four bytes, the file size limit has increased to {{nowrap|16 exabytes (EB)}} ({{nowrap|264 âˆ’ 1 bytes}}, or about {{nowrap|1019 bytes}}, which is otherwise limited by a maximum volume size of {{nowrap|128 PB,}} or {{nowrap|257 âˆ’ 1 bytes}}), raised from {{nowrap|4 GB}} ({{nowrap|232 âˆ’ 1 bytes}}) in a standard FAT32 file system. Therefore, for the typical user, this enables seamless interoperability between Windows and {{nowrap|macOS}} platforms for files in excess of 4 GB.Other specifications, features, and requirements of the exFAT file system include:

Scalability to large disk sizes: about 128 PB ({{nowrap|257 âˆ’ 1 bytes}})WEB,weblink File System Functionality Comparison, Microsoft, February 26, 2015, April 7, 2015,weblink live, . maximum, 512 TB ({{nowrap|249 âˆ’ 1 bytes}}) recommended maximum, raised from the 32-bit limit (2 TB for a sector size of 512 bytes) of standard FAT32 partitions.WEB,weblink Limitations of the FAT32 File System in Windows XP, February 11, 2011, December 1, 2007, Microsoft, February 24, 2015,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20150224162047weblink">weblink live,
Support for up to 2,796,202 files per directory. Microsoft documents a limit of 65,534 (216 âˆ’ 2) files per sub-directory for their FAT32 implementation, but other operating systems have no special limit for the number of files in a FAT32 directory. FAT32 implementations in other operating systems allow an unlimited number of files up to the number of available clusters (that is, up to 268,304,373 files on volumes without long filenames).
Maximum number of files on volume C{{clarify|date=April 2022}}, to 4,294,967,285 ({{nowrap|2{{sup|32}} âˆ’ 11}}, up from about {{nowrap|2{{sup|28}} âˆ’ 11}} in standard FAT32).
Free space allocation and delete performance improved due to introduction of a free-space bitmap.
Timestamp granularity of 10 ms for creation and modified times (down from 2 s on FAT, but not as fine as NTFS's 100 ns).
Timestamp granularity for last-access time to double seconds (FAT had date only).
Timestamps come with a time zone marker in offset relative to UTC (starting with Vista SP2).WEB, Mike, Nash,weblink weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20130509023652weblink">weblink May 9, 2013, Windows Vista Service Pack 2 Beta, The Windows Blog, October 24, 2008, dead,
Optional support for access-control lists (not currently supported in Windows Desktop/Server versions).WEB,weblink A Second Shot: Windows Vista SP1, November 5, 2013, December 2, 2008,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20081202101342weblink">weblink live,
Optional support for TexFAT, a transactional file system standard (optionally WinCE activated function, not supported in Windows Desktop/Server versions).
Boundary alignment offset for the FAT table.
Boundary alignment offset for the data region.
Provision for OEM-definable parameters to customize the file system for specific device characteristics.WEB,weblink OEM Parameter Definition with exFAT (Windows Embedded CE 6.0), November 25, 2013, December 3, 2013,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20131203021913weblink">weblink live,
Valid data length (VDL): through the use of two distinct lengths fields{{snd}} one for "allocated space" and the other for "valid data"{{snd}} exFAT can preallocate a file without leaking data that was previously on-disk.
Cluster size up to 32 MB.
Metadata integrity with checksums.{{clarify|date=June 2014}}
Template-based metadata structures.{{clarify|date=June 2014}}
Removal of the physical {{code|.}} and {{code|..}} directory entries that appear in subdirectories.
exFAT no longer stores the short 8.3 filename references in directory structure and natively uses extended file names, whereas legacy FAT versions implement extended file names through the VFAT extension.

Windows XP requires update KB955704 to be installed, and Windows Vista requires its SP1 installed.WEB,weblink weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20130507183540weblink">weblink dead, Information about support for exFAT under Windows Vista., Microsoft, May 7, 2013, WEB,weblink Download Windows Vista Service Pack 1 Five Language Standalone (KB936330) from Official Microsoft Download Center, Microsoft, February 26, 2015, February 26, 2015,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20150226105901weblink">weblink live, Windows Vista is unable to use exFAT drives for ReadyBoost. Windows 7 removes this limitation, enabling ReadyBoost caches larger than 4 GB.WEB,weblink exFAT Versus FAT32 Versus NTFS, February 27, 2008, October 2, 2009, January 29, 2013,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20130129045108weblink">weblink live, Windows 10 only allows formatting exFAT and NTFS on non-removeable volumes sized larger than 32 GB with the default user interface, and FAT32 format is suggested for smaller volumes; command-line utilities don't accept quick format using FAT32 if volume is larger than 32 GB.The standard exFAT implementation is not journaled and only uses a single file allocation table and free-space map. FAT file systems instead used alternating tables, as this allowed recovery of the file system if the media was ejected during a write (which occurs frequently in practice with removable media). The optional TexFAT component adds support for additional backup tables and maps, but may not be supported.The exFAT format allows individual files larger than 4 GB, facilitating long continuous recording of HD video, which can exceed the 4 GB limit in less than an hour. Current digital cameras using FAT32 will break the video files into multiple segments of approximately 2 or 4 GB. EFS supported in Windows 10 v1607 and Windows Server 2016 or later.WEB, [MS-FSCC]: Appendix B: Product Behavior,weblink 2017-10-02, msdn.microsoft.com, en-us,

Efficiency

SDXC cards running at UHS-I have a minimum guaranteed write speed of 10 MB/s, and exFAT plays a factor in achieving this throughput through the reduction of the file-system overhead in cluster allocation. This is achieved through the introduction of a separate cluster bitmap where the reservation state of each cluster (reserved/free) is tracked by only one bit, reducing writes to the much larger FAT that originally served this purpose. Additionally, a single bit in the directory record indicates that the file is contiguous (unfragmented), telling the exFAT driver to ignore the FAT. This optimization is analogous to an extent in other file systems, except that it only applies to whole files, as opposed to contiguous parts of files.

Adoption

exFAT is supported in Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 with update KB955704, Windows Vista Service Pack 1 and later,WEB,weblink Vista SP1 Whitepaper, August 28, 2007, August 28, 2007, Brandon, LeBlanc, Microsoft, September 2, 2007,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20070902075248weblink">weblink dead, Windows Server 2008 and later (except Server Core), macOS starting from 10.6.5, Linux via FUSE or natively starting from kernel 5.4, and iPadOS as well as iOS starting from 13.1.WEB,weblink How to use external storage on iPad and iPhone with iOS 13, Andrew, O'Hara, June 7, 2019, AppleInsider, en, 2020-02-26, 2019-08-02,weblink live, Companies can integrate exFAT into a specific group of consumer devices, including cameras, camcorders, and digital photo frames for a flat fee. Mobile phones, PCs, and networks have a different volume pricing model.exFAT is supported in a number of media devices such as modern flat-panel TVs,WEB,weblink exFAT support on Sony, January 6, 2013, February 19, 2012,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20120219004729weblink">weblink live, media centers, and portable media players.WEB,weblink Jeff, Hamm, CACI, Paradigm Solutions, 2009, Extended FAT File System, April 9, 2013, March 14, 2016,weblink live, exFAT is the official file system of SDXC cards. Because of this, any device not supporting exFAT, such as the Nintendo 3DS, may not legally advertise itself as SDXC compatible, despite supporting SDXC cards as mass storage devices by formatting the card with FAT32 or a proprietary file system tied to the device in question.Some vendors of other flash media, including USB pen drives, compact flash (CF) and solid-state drives (SSD) ship some of their high-capacity media pre-formatted with the exFAT file system to ensure compatibility with any given device. For example, Sandisk ships their 256 GB CF cards as exFAT.Microsoft has entered into licensing agreements with BlackBerry,WEB,weblink Microsoft Licenses exFAT to Research In Motion, September 20, 2012, Tom's Hardware, PRESS RELEASE,weblink Microsoft Signs Licensing Agreement With Research In Motion, 18 September 2012, Microsoft, 17 March 2015, 10 September 2014,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20140910034927weblink">weblink live, Panasonic, Sanyo, Sony, Canon, Aspen Avionics,PRESS RELEASE,weblink Microsoft Signs Patent Licensing Agreement With Aspen Avionics, Microsoft, 2013-05-13, 2013-05-15,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20130515185505weblink">weblink live, Audiovox, Continental, Harman, LG AutomotiveWEB,weblink In-vehicle infotainment gets boost from new Microsoft exFAT file system deals, June 19, 2013, Stories, July 28, 2019, July 28, 2019,weblink live, and BMW.PRESS RELEASE,weblink Microsoft Signs exFAT Licensing Agreement With BMW, Microsoft, 2013-01-17, 2013-01-19,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20130119035046weblink">weblink live, Mac OS X Snow Leopard 10.6.5 and later can create, read, write, verify, and repair exFAT file systems.Linux has support for exFAT via FUSE since 2009. In 2013, Samsung Electronics published a Linux driver for exFAT under GPL.WEB,weblink Conservancy Helps Samsung Resolve GPL Compliance Matter Amicably, Software Freedom Conservancy, en, 2019-03-15, 2019-02-03,weblink live, On 28 August 2019, Microsoft published the exFAT specification and released the patent to the Open Invention Network members.WEB, exFAT in the Linux kernel? Yes!,weblink Microsoft, John Gossman, 2019-08-28, 2019-09-02, 2019-09-01,weblink live, The Linux kernel introduced native exFAT support with the 5.4 release in November 2019.ChromeOS can read and write to exFAT partitions.WEB, File types and external devices that work on Chromebooks,weblink Google Inc., 2021-06-08, 2014-01-11,weblink live,

Technical specifications

{| class="wikitable" style="float:right; margin:10px;"|+ Default exFAT cluster sizes in Windows

00}}7 MB to

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