In this article, we try to answer the question: “What’s the Best Allocation Unit Size when Formatting a USB Flash Drive?”
The short answer
It doesn’t really matter anymore, because computers are very fast. These settings would impact performance in earlier years of computing where the processors were slower.
Extra knowledge tip: Allocation Unit is simply the block size when storing data/files on the NTFS file system (i.e. in Windows).
A more analytical and little bit different answer
Windows 10, by default, when choosing to format a USB flash drive, propose as the Allocation Unit Size the value of 4096 bytes. If you are a standard Windows user then the proposed allocation unit size of 4096 bytes sounds good. This covers many scenarios, especially when working with many small-sized files.
If however you work with large files, i.e. with large databases (yes I know, why would anyone want to store a database on a USB flash drive? 🙂 well, this is just an example of a large file), then you should consider using a large Allocation Unit Size (for example 64K).
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Artemakis Artemiou is a seasoned Senior Database and AI/Automation Architect with over 20 years of expertise in the IT industry. As a Certified Database, Cloud, and AI professional, he has been recognized as a thought leader, earning the prestigious Microsoft Data Platform MVP title for nine consecutive years (2009-2018). Driven by a passion for simplifying complex topics, Artemakis shares his expertise through articles, online courses, and speaking engagements. He empowers professionals around the globe to excel in Databases, Cloud, AI, Automation, and Software Development. Committed to innovation and education, Artemakis strives to make technology accessible and impactful for everyone.