Other specifications, features, and requirements of the exFAT file system include: Therefore, for the typical user, this enables seamless interoperability between Windows and macOS platforms for files in excess of 4 GB.
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.īecause file size references are stored in eight instead of four bytes, the file size limit has increased to 16 exabytes (EB) ( 2 64−1 bytes, or about 10 19 bytes, which is otherwise limited by a maximum volume size of 128 PB, or 2 57−1 bytes), raised from 4 GB ( 2 32−1 bytes) in a standard FAT32 file system. Most of the vendors signing on for licences are manufacturers of embedded systems or device manufacturers that produce media formatted with exFAT.
ExFAT was introduced in late 2006 as part of Windows CE 6.0, an embedded Windows operating system.
