In Windows, sometime you might have seen an error message while copying any single large file (about more than 4GB) to your external storage device such as pen drives, external hard disk etc. The error message saying that the file is too large for the destination file system. In this article, learn how to solve this problem.
What is the error?
The file is too large for the destination file system:
The file is too large for the destination file system.
The above error message displayed even though enough space about 30 GB available in my external storage device.
Possible reason:
Platform: Windows
This is not actually a problem. The external storage used is formatted either FAT or FAT32 file system. The maximum filesize for the FAT file system is 2GB, and whereas for FAT32, the maximum file size is 4GB. In our example, we have a file with 10GB in size. Hence it is not even fit in the FAT32 file system, and Windows displays the error message ‘the file is too large for the destination file system.’ Now, we need to make an external storage device capable of allocating large file storage.
Solution:
Apart from FAT or FAT32, there other two file systems such as exFAT and NTFS, which can read/write files of more than 4GB and create a drive partition larger than 32GB. Suppose if the file size is greater than 4GB in size, you must have an external storage device either formatted in exFAT or NTFS file system type. You have two choices, and you can choose either of two ways based on your requirement.
Note:
FAT, FAT 32 and exFAT is compatible for all operating systems. Where as NTFS is compatible for only Windows operating system.
Solution 1:
Format storage device to exFAT or NTFS file system by using Windows UI.
You can format your storage device from windows explorer. All data in the storage device will be erased and formatted when you choose this option. Please follow the below steps to format your storage device either by exFAT or NTFS file system using Windows UI.
1
Connect your storage devices such as Pendrive or external hard disk to your computer. Make sure that your storage device is recognized or detected by Windows. If not, then further read useful article here to solve the problem related to USB not connected issues.
2
Open My Computer or Explorer window and do the following steps.
1. Select your storage device and right mouse click. Context menu populated.
2. Click on the Format menu item in the context menu to open the Format window.
3
On Format screen, do the following steps.
1. Click on File System drop-down menu.
2. Select an appropriate allocation size.
3. Click on the Start button to start formatting process.
4. Click on OK button to confirm erase all data on storage device.
5. Message displayed when the storage device is formatted successfully.
4
Once your storage device is successfully formatted, you can read/write more than 4GB files in size to the storage device.
Solution 2:
Convert FAT 32 to exFAT or NTFS file system by using console or command line.
Sometimes you may want to keep existing data on your storage device and expect to change the file system from exFAT or NTFS. You can achieve this by using the convert command.
Note:
Convert is not available for exFAT to the NTFS file system. It means that if the storage device is formatted earlier using an exFAT file system, then the system not allowed conversion to the NTFS file system.
1
Open Windows Command prompt and type the following command to convert the FAT 32 file system to NTFS and hit the enter key.
Convert J: /FS :NTFS
Here J: is the USB mass storage drive.
Once conversion is successful you will see the following details in console window.
2
Once your storage device is successfully converted to an NTFS file system, you can read/write more than 4GB files in size.
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