Best file format for wiping USB memory stick

[mintd]

Hello everyone,

I need to format my USB stick and would like to ask what is the best format to choose (for compatibility between all OS, particularly Win and Linux)?

Thank you!

[AndyMH]

fat32, use mint's usb stick formatter.

[deck_luck]

Hello everyone,

I need to format my USB stick and would like to ask what is the best format to choose (for compatibility between all OS, particularly Win and Linux)?

Thank you!

exFAT (Extensible File Allocation Table) is a file system optimized for flash memory such as USB flash drives and SD cards. The macOS, Windows, and Linux operating systems support exFAT. If I remember correctly the Linux 5.7+ kernel has a more stable exFAT driver. Samsung donated the exFAT driver to the Linux kernel. When using USB flash storage devices, exFAT is my go to file system when moving files between the big three operating systems.

[AndyMH]

and mint's usb stick formatter gives you the option for exfat.

[mintd]

and mint's usb stick formatter gives you the option for exfat.

Thank you AndyMH

deck_luck recommended exFAT above - what are your thoughts on this file format?
Thanks

[stevengarland]

What happened to EXT4. Is that no longer recommended?

[AndyMH]

I normally use ext4 because I'm not sharing with win, but would pick fat32 by default as the lowest common denominator. It does have limitations, e.g. max file size 4GB. exfat support in some LM utilities, e.g. gparted, was limited. Think this is now fixed with LM21, so I'd go with deck_luck.

[deck_luck]

What happened to EXT4. Is that no longer recommended?

Steven,

Please read the original post to get a understanding of the context. What file system works on all operating systems, i.e. Linux, Windows, and macOS. As AndyMH stated, the FAT32 file system works on the big three operating systems. Conversely, the ext4 file system is native to Linux, and macOS does not natively support it. Consequently, ext4 is not acceptable for this situation.

The second part is the type of persistent storage device. The exFAT is optimized for USB flash memory sticks, hence exFAT was my recommendation. Likewise, the exFAT extends the FAT32 capabilities.

Please note, it is very important to make sure you unmount/eject the USB flash stick before unplugging it. Otherwise, you could get corrupt directories or files.

[mintd]

What happened to EXT4. Is that no longer recommended?

Steven,

Please read the original post to get a understanding of the context. What file system works on all operating systems, i.e. Linux, Windows, and macOS. As AndyMH stated, the FAT32 file system works on the big three operating systems. Conversely, the ext4 file system is native to Linux, and macOS does not natively support it. Consequently, ext4 is not acceptable for this situation.

The second part is the type of persistent storage device. The exFAT is optimized for USB flash memory sticks, hence exFAT was my recommendation. Likewise, the exFAT extends the FAT32 capabilities.

Please note, it is very important to make sure you unmount/eject the USB flash stick before unplugging it. Otherwise, you could get corrupt directories or files.

Thank you deck_luck

You raised interesting points, thank you.

So if we were to only consider compatibility between Linux and Windows (I never use macOS) - what would be the best file format to use on a USB memory stick? Also if I were to format an SSD for installation of Linux - what would be the best format to use? And the same with installation of Windows? Thank you!

[deck_luck]

...
So if we were to only consider compatibility between Linux and Windows (I never use macOS) - what would be the best file format to use on a USB memory stick?

Since it is a USB flash storage stick, I would recommend exFAT.

...
Also if I were to format an SSD for installation of Linux - what would be the best format to use? And the same with installation of Windows? Thank you!

The modern SSD (solid state disk) storage devices are flash memory based, however they are far more advanced that a simple USB flash stick. The simple USB flash stick does not provide the SSD wear leveling and trim features. Since the Linux ext4 and Windows11 NTFS support trim, I would encourage you to use the default native file system on your internal SSD storage device for operating system installations.

EDIT: Sorry, I thought this was a new user. I removed the comment about starting a new thread.

[scjet45]

fat32, until the universe ends.

It's one of the most versatile and free/(microsoft-abandoned) file systems that gets along with any and ALL other OS's, ..., old or new.
But failing that, due to the file/file system size limitations of fat32, then go ntfs, and/or exFAT, however, both of these latter ones are riddled with patent encumbered M$ licenses, ..., best to stay away from whenever possible.

Hence why NFS was (freely) created decades ago, (as long as you have a working network connection), so we wouldn't have to worry about file systems, but alas, that's yet another topic.

[deck_luck]

...
hen go ntfs, and/or exFAT, however, both of these latter ones are riddled with patent encumbered M$ licenses, ..., best to stay away from whenever possible.
...

exFAT was proprietary until 28 August 2019, when Microsoft published its specification.
Microsoft released exfat specifications

[red-striped-zebra]

Steven,

Please read the original post to get a understanding of the context. What file system works on all operating systems, i.e. Linux, Windows, and macOS. As AndyMH stated, the FAT32 file system works on the big three operating systems. Conversely, the ext4 file system is native to Linux, and macOS does not natively support it. Consequently, ext4 is not acceptable for this situation.

The second part is the type of persistent storage device. The exFAT is optimized for USB flash memory sticks, hence exFAT was my recommendation. Likewise, the exFAT extends the FAT32 capabilities.

Please note, it is very important to make sure you unmount/eject the USB flash stick before unplugging it. Otherwise, you could get corrupt directories or files.

Hi,

I have a related question here if you are still around: is the unmount/eject button's function the same as Window's "Safely Remove Hardware" in principle; are they doing the same thing?

[deck_luck]

Hi,

I have a related question here if you are still around: is the unmount/eject button's function the same as Window's "Safely Remove Hardware" in principle; are they doing the same thing?

I make it a habit to right click the file system and unmount it. This will flush all of the file system cache. If you are dealing with a USB hard disk drive with multiple partitions/file systems, you must unmount all of them before attempting an eject. Once the activity light is off, I will proceed with the eject.

[red-striped-zebra]

I make it a habit to right click the file system and unmount it. This will flush all of the file system cache. If you are dealing with a USB hard disk drive with multiple partitions/file systems, you must unmount all of them before attempting an eject. Once the activity light is off, I will proceed with the eject.

Too much caution! On Windows, we only do "Safely remove hardware" before pulling off the USB.

[deck_luck]

Too much caution! On Windows, we only do "Safely remove hardware" before pulling off the USB.

Behind the scene the Windows Eject will first unmount the file system and eject (Linux equivalent udisksctl power-off). Likewise if you have any file system residing on the USB device in use, the Windows Eject function will not succeed. I have even had the Task Manager open looking at stats, and it would prevent Windows from ejecting the USB device, because the Task Manager held the device in use. The terminology might sound a little different, but they are still performing similar functions.

[red-striped-zebra]

Behind the scene the Windows Eject will first unmount the file system and eject (Linux equivalent udisksctl power-off). Likewise if you have any file system residing on the USB device in use, the Windows Eject function will not succeed. I have even had the Task Manager open looking at stats, and it would prevent Windows from ejecting the USB device, because the Task Manager held the device in use. The terminology might sound a little different, but they are still performing similar functions.

When I recently put my back-up western digital external hard drive on another linux-run system, I found the file manager app opened all the partitions on it together, successfully with eject buttons for each on to the side. And when I ejected them separately (I did not unmount as you advice here), the HDD functioned well the next time I connected it. Is it because using the GUI/app is safe?

[mintd]

...
So if we were to only consider compatibility between Linux and Windows (I never use macOS) - what would be the best file format to use on a USB memory stick?

Since it is a USB flash storage stick, I would recommend exFAT.

...
Also if I were to format an SSD for installation of Linux - what would be the best format to use? And the same with installation of Windows? Thank you!

The modern SSD (solid state disk) storage devices are flash memory based, however they are far more advanced that a simple USB flash stick. The simple USB flash stick does not provide the SSD wear leveling and trim features. Since the Linux ext4 and Windows11 NTFS support trim, I would encourage you to use the default native file system on your internal SSD storage device for operating system installations.

EDIT: Sorry, I thought this was a new user. I removed the comment about starting a new thread.

Thank you deck_luck and everyone for helping out (and sorry for the delay in posting back).

If my understanding is correct, the consensus is that it's best to use exFAT for formatting a USB memory stick (for use with Linux/Windows/Mac) - is that correct?

Can I please go back to my previous questions about formatting for installation of Linux and Windows on SSD:

1) What would be the best file format for formatting an SSD drive for installation of Linux Mint?
2) What would be the best file format for formatting an SSD drive for installation of Windows (10)?
Also, was wondering if the best file format for the above would be different when formatting a HDD?

Sorry I'm not sure what the 'default native file system on your internal SSD storage device for operating system installations' would be? How can I check this? I may have formatted the drive in the past so would this information be more difficult to find?
Thank you!

[AndyMH]

#1 & #2 if you choose "erase and install" the mint installer does it for you. Win will be the same.

No difference for an HDD. If you are formatting an HDD for use as a data drive, if you want to share files with win then format the partition ntfs, if linux only then format ext4.

Sorry I'm not sure what the 'default native file system on your internal SSD storage device for operating system installations' would be? How can I check this? I may have formatted the drive in the past so would this information be more difficult to find?

Mint's default filesystem is ext4. You can find out about your drives with gparted (there is a copy on the install iso, but you have to install it from software manager once you have installed mint). gparted is the standard linux partition editor.

This is what my system drive looks like, you get the panel on the left with view > device information.

[Cobrin]

I use Mint Win11 and OSX, for my flash drives they're formatted exfat. All OS's read and write to them.

As for your other questions, the best format to use for the installation of those individual OS's, is, the installers default file format. I know, not a big revelation there. If I didn't have to share flash drives between PC's then Mint would use EXT4 so I could save timeshift backups to it. Windows would use ntfs cause it's faster for it, and what ever the default OSX is for it.