--- description: Tables that list functionality and feature support comparisons for the four main Windows file systems, NTFS, exFAT, UDF, and FAT32. ms.assetid: 28cf2805-f1ce-46b4-bf08-a329f67f4d99 title: File System Functionality Comparison ms.topic: reference ms.date: 05/31/2018 --- # File System Functionality Comparison The following tables list functionality and feature support comparisons for the four main Windows file systems, NTFS, exFAT, UDF, and FAT32: - [Functionality](#file-system-functionality-comparison) - [Limits](#limits) - [Journaling and Change Log](#journaling-and-change-log) - [Block Allocation Features](#block-allocation-features) - [Security](#security) - [Compression](#compression) - [Quotas](#quotas) - [Single-Instance Store](#single-instance-store) - [Related topics](#related-topics) ## Functionality | Feature | NTFS | exFAT | UDF | FAT32 | |-------------------------------------|--------------------------------|----------------|-------------------------------|----------------------------| | Creation time stamps<br/> | Yes<br/> | Yes<br/> | Yes<br/> | Yes<br/> | | Last access time stamps<br/> | No (see note below)<br/> | Yes<br/> | Yes<br/> | Yes (date only)<br/> | | Last change time stamps<br/> | Yes<br/> | Yes<br/> | Yes<br/> | Yes<br/> | | Last archive time stamps<br/> | No<br/> | No<br/> | No<br/> | No<br/> | | Case-sensitive<br/> | Yes (option)<br/> | No<br/> | Yes<br/> | No<br/> | | Case-preserving<br/> | Yes<br/> | Yes<br/> | Yes<br/> | Yes<br/> | | Hard links<br/> | Yes<br/> | No<br/> | Yes<br/> | No<br/> | | Soft links<br/> | Yes<br/> | No<br/> | No<br/> | No<br/> | | Sparse files<br/> | Yes<br/> | No<br/> | Yes<br/> | No<br/> | | Named streams<br/> | Yes<br/> | No<br/> | Yes<br/> | No<br/> | | Oplocks<br/> | Yes<br/> | Yes<br/> | Yes<br/> | Yes<br/> | | Extended attributes<br/> | Yes<br/> | No<br/> | Yes (on-disk only)<br/> | No<br/> | | Alternate data streams<br/> | Yes<br/> | No<br/> | Yes<br/> | No<br/> | | Mount points<br/> | Yes<br/> | No<br/> | No<br/> | No<br/> | **Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP:** The NTFS last access time stamp field is updated. ## Limits | Feature | NTFS | exFAT | UDF | FAT32 | |-------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Maximum file name length<br/> | 255 Unicode characters<br/> | 255 Unicode characters<br/> | 127 Unicode or 254 ASCII characters<br/> | 255 Unicode characters<br/> | | Maximum path name length<br/> | 32,760 Unicode characters with each path component no more than 255 characters<br/> | 32,760 Unicode characters with each path component no more than 255 characters<br/> | 32,760 Unicode characters with each path component no more than 255 characters<br/> | 32,760 Unicode characters with each path component no more than 255 characters<br/> | | Maximum file size<br/> | 2^64–1 bytes<br/> | 2^64–1 bytes<br/> | 2^64–1 bytes<br/> | 4 GiB<br/> | | Maximum volume size<br/> | 16 TB (4 KB Cluster Size) or 256TB (64 KB Cluster Size)<br/> | 2^32–1 clusters (Maximum cluster size = 2^25–1)<br/> | 2^32 blocks<br/> | 2^32 blocks<br/> | ## Journaling and Change Log | Feature | NTFS | exFAT | UDF | FAT32 | |-------------------------------------|----------------|---------------|---------------|---------------| | Metadata-only journaling<br/> | Yes<br/> | No<br/> | No<br/> | No<br/> | | File change log<br/> | Yes<br/> | No<br/> | No<br/> | No<br/> | ## Block Allocation Features | Feature | NTFS | exFAT | UDF | FAT32 | |--------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------|----------------|---------------| | Tail packing<br/> | Yes (small files are made resident in the MFT stream descriptor)<br/> | No<br/> | No<br/> | No<br/> | | Extents<br/> | Yes<br/> | No<br/> | Yes<br/> | No<br/> | | Variable block size<br/> | No (set by the volume)<br/> | No<br/> | No<br/> | No<br/> | ## Security | Feature | NTFS | exFAT | UDF | FAT32 | |------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------|---------------------|---------------------|---------------| | Track file owner<br/> | Yes<br/> | No<br/> | No<br/> | No<br/> | | POSIX file permissions<br/> | No (available in POSIX subsystem feature)<br/> | No<br/> | Yes<br/> | No<br/> | | Access control lists<br/> | Yes<br/> | No<br/> | No<br/> | No<br/> | | File system level encryption<br/> | Yes<br/> | No<br/> | No<br/> | No<br/> | | Checksum/ECC<br/> | No<br/> | Metadata<br/> | Metadata<br/> | No<br/> | ## Compression | Feature | NTFS | exFAT | UDF | FAT32 | |---------------------------------|----------------|---------------|---------------|---------------| | Built-in compression<br/> | Yes<br/> | No<br/> | No<br/> | No<br/> | ## Quotas | Feature | NTFS | exFAT | UDF | FAT32 | |---------------------------------------|--------------------------------|---------------|---------------|---------------| | User-level disk space<br/> | Yes<br/> | No<br/> | No<br/> | No<br/> | | Directory-level disk space<br/> | No (see note below)<br/> | No<br/> | No<br/> | No<br/> | **Note** The directory-level disk space quotas feature on NTFS is available through the File Server Resource Manager. ## Single-Instance Store | Feature | NTFS | exFAT | UDF | FAT32 | |-----------------------|--------------------------------|---------------|---------------|---------------| | File level<br/> | No (see note below)<br/> | No<br/> | No<br/> | No<br/> | **Note** Single-instance store for NTFS is available as part of the Single Instance Storage feature in Windows Server. ## Related topics <dl> <dt> [About File Management](about-file-management.md) </dt> <dt> [Single-Instance Store and SIS Backup](/windows/desktop/Backup/single-instance-store-and-sis-backup) </dt> </dl>