Rather, it’s to understand the differences between how file systems organize data. As with most analogies, this relies on gross oversimplification and is not intended to describe the details of how disks work. Let’s use a reference book as an analogy. The type of file system is selected and initialized when you format a drive. File systemsįile systems are how the bits and bytes of your data are organized on a disk. For USB thumb drives, FAT32 is typically the default, and is the most compatible for drives moved between machines with different operating systems. Each has strengths and weaknesses, and which is most appropriate depends on how the drive will be used. File system formats like FAT32, NTFS, and exFAT are standard ways of organizing data on hard disks.