The FAT File System
Fergus Toolan · 2025
The File Allocation Table (FAT) family of file systems have been in use since the early 1980s. Throughout this time there have been a number of versions (FAT12, FAT16, and FAT32) each of which could address larger spaces than its predecessor and hence support large disk sizes. The FAT file system is a relatively simple file system that is generally encountered only on older removable media (USB stick, SD card, etc.) rather than being found on hard drives. Previously FAT was the default file system for the Windows operating system but since the release of NTFS this is no longer the case. The FAT file system provides an opportunity for people to develop manual analysis skills using a less complex file system.