Steam ntfs or exfat. NTFS is the preferred file format under Windows for HDD and SSD drives. stackexchange. Steam, along with way other The Steam Deck is optimized for gaming, so users will likely want to add a microSD card to install more games beyond what fits on the internal storage. 🕹️ Get the best performance and compatibility! I can confirm this for Steam as well. , allowing you to store files much larger than the 4 GB allowed by FAT32. If you want to change the file type of your drive to NTFS, we need to do so by formatting the drive and modifying the file system format. exFAT allows compatibility between Windows and macOS, sacrificing slight performance compared to NTFS on Windows. Is NTFS or exFAT Better for Gaming HDD? When it comes to choosing a file system for your gaming hard drive (HDD), you are faced with two popular options: NTFS and exFAT. However, there are two main file system options for formatting external storage – ExFAT and NTFS. Both have their advantages and disadvantages, and the right choice depends on your specific needs and preferences. Jan 19, 2018 · Isn't exfat made for SD cards and usb sticks? It seems worse for stuff like this. An NTFS partition should work fine too but I had problems in the past running games on NTFS partitions, maybe the two bind mounts I discovered while tinkering with exFAT could help with ntfs-3g too. But I know exFAT is more compatible with other hardware like TV's have usb support. Is there any downsides to running exFAT, I know its only been supported for ~ a year or so. Nov 6, 2024 · Is NTFS or exFAT Better for Gaming HDD? When it comes to choosing a file system for your gaming hard drive (HDD), you are faced with two popular options: NTFS and exFAT. Go into the settings and in the Storage tab, you want to click on the dropdown that shows "Internal Drive" and click "Add Drive". . For macOS, APFS or exFAT are the common choices. Why ext4? Ext4 offers several advantages over exFAT in this context. I just got my new 1TB card and it came with exFat, worked fine in windows, but when I tried to do anything with it in steam I got disk errors. Doesn't really mater if you're connecting it to PC, although I usually go NTFS since it's usually the default selection if I'm not mistaken. A practical solution to this question: https://gaming. I would say NTFS is the main thing that most games assume you use, stick with that. It's formatted exFAT by default, I gave it a shot and large modern games seem to run fine on it. Aug 23, 2025 · Discover whether to format your external drive as exFAT or NTFS for game installations. If it's NTFS, They won't be able to read the drive. Users need to decide which file system is better suited for the Steam Deck. Using exFAT might lead to performance issues and potential compatibility problems. USB flash drives (not SSD) should use exFAT though. Create a Dedicated Steam Library Folder: It’s good practice to create a specific folder on the external drive to house your Steam games. com/questions/306621/how-can-i-fool-steam-to-think-my-exfat-drive-is-ntfs Two ways to go about this, either access NTFS or exFAT in Linux, or EXT4 in Windows. I decided to reformat and chose ntfs and it's now working flawlessly. The Steam Deck’s operating system, SteamOS, is optimized for the ext4 file system. exFAT vs NTFS for steam games and other stuff I just got a 1tb external drive (partially to keep steam games on). NTFS If you are coming from Windows and plan to game on a secondary drive with games already installed on it, then we regret to inform you that the NTFS filesystem is unsupported for PC gaming on Bazzite. Like NTFS, exFAT has very large limits on file and partition sizes. For NTFS or exFAT in Linux: You need to go into Desktop Mode mount the external drive and open Steam. exFAT, FAT32 and steam checks I have a relatively small SSD formatted as NTFS running windows, and steam installed under C: I have a HD formatted as exFAT (aka FAT64) where I have more space and a steam library, lets call it D:. NTFS is the best option for Windows-only gaming. Steam and Xbox should detect this and give warning!!!!! Mar 24, 2025 · (1) If NTFS is displayed, your disk should be in a supported format. About Allow steam to use non- NTFS formatted drives for library folders. Feb 9, 2025 · Can I Use exFAT on Steam Deck? The short answer is no, exFAT isn’t ideal for your Steam Deck’s SD card. Note that I play on Windows 7 64-bit, I just use this drive on both. When installing **some** games to D:, steam complains and says I can't install to a FAT32 formatted partition That article says exFAT is optimized for flash drives—designed to be a lightweight file system like FAT32, but without the extra features and over head of NTFS and without the limitations of FAT32. (2) If it says FAT32/exFAT, then these file system types are not required by Steam. My steam library is on an external drive that I had to format as exFAT to be able to write on OS X. tjbyj, p4x9, hqvvng, nw4rs, wluwk, hqivyp, isnvql, mok5y, 9oop2, m0alrt,