Every format asks the same question - FAT32, exFAT or NTFS - and the wrong answer shows up later as a movie that will not copy or a TV that cannot see the drive. Each system has one honest strength. Match it to where the drive will actually be used.
The file system is the drive's organising method, and the three Windows offers are not three grades of the same thing - they are three different tools. FAT32 is the universal language every device speaks, with one famous limit. exFAT is its modern replacement, built for flash drives. NTFS is Windows' own heavy-duty system, powerful at home and poorly understood abroad. One more warning before the details: changing the file system means formatting, and formatting erases the drive - back up first, always.
Car stereos, old TVs, printers, game consoles, cameras, ancient PCs - everything reads FAT32, which is why it remains the safe choice for drives that visit old or simple devices. Its hard limit is famous: no single file larger than 4 GB, which is why a big movie or ISO image refuses to copy onto a half-empty drive. Note also that Windows' own format dialog will not create FAT32 partitions larger than 32 GB, even though the system itself supports more - another reason modern large drives ship as exFAT.
Microsoft designed exFAT specifically to retire FAT32's limits for flash storage: no practical file-size ceiling, full support in modern Windows and macOS, and support in current phones, TVs and consoles. For a pendrive that moves files between modern computers - especially anything over 4 GB - exFAT is the right default. Its one weakness is politeness: it keeps less safety bookkeeping than NTFS, so ejecting properly before unplugging genuinely matters.
NTFS is the file system Windows itself runs on, with journalling, permissions and encryption. On a pendrive those strengths mostly go unused, while the weaknesses travel with you: macOS reads NTFS but cannot write to it without extra software, and many TVs, car systems, phones and printers cannot read it at all. Choose NTFS only when the drive will live permanently between Windows PCs and you have a specific reason - a huge file set with permissions, or a Windows-to-Go style use.
There is no in-place conversion in the Windows format tools - switching systems means a format, and a format erases. So: copy everything off, format with the new system (right-click Format, or the diskpart sequence from this guide's core page), copy back, and eject properly. Convert utilities exist, but a backup-format-restore cycle is simpler and safer for a pendrive-sized amount of data.
Watch the video for the format process end to end once you have picked your file system.
▶️ Watch Full VideoexFAT, which is almost certainly what it shipped with. It handles files of any realistic size and works across modern Windows, Mac, phones and TVs. Switch to FAT32 only if an older device refuses to see it.
FAT32's design caps a single file at just under 4 GB, no matter how much free space the drive has. Reformat the drive as exFAT (after backing up its contents) and the same file copies without complaint.
No meaningful difference for normal use. What actually protects flash life and your data is behaviour: finish copies fully, eject before unplugging, and avoid filling any drive to the last megabyte.