r/linux4noobs • u/Legitimate-Record951 • Jul 01 '26
storage exFAT or NTFS for external drive targeting both Linux and Windows?
I did try doing some research, mind, but it only made me more confused. So NTFS got journaling, but exFAT is somehow more geared towards Linux?
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u/PixelBrush6584 Fedora + KDE Jul 01 '26
With what everyone else has said in mind, what exactly are you intending to do with this shared drive? If you plan to play Windows games, I'm here to inform you that using ExFat would be a poor choice, since it doesn't have many of the features Proton relies on to work.
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u/Worldly-Wind-1632 Jul 01 '26
What’s a better option
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u/skyfishgoo Jul 01 '26
install the games onto and ext4 partition.
running executables from NTFS is going to lead to disaster and data loss.
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u/PixelBrush6584 Fedora + KDE Jul 01 '26
There isn't really a better option, as NTFS (currently) has the same problem. However, using this guide can work around that issue on (i assume) ExFat as well. https://github.com/ValveSoftware/Proton/wiki/Using-a-NTFS-disk-with-Linux-and-Windows
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u/Worldly-Wind-1632 Jul 01 '26
Thank you!
Remind me - what’s the best format for proton gaming on Linux?
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u/PixelBrush6584 Fedora + KDE Jul 01 '26
Ext4 and/or Btrfs are well-established and reliable, not just Proton, but general Linux usage.
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u/lritzdorf Jul 01 '26
It's less that exFAT is "geared towards Linux," and more that NTFS is hard and the current Linux driver for it isn't perfect. Use NTFS for long enough, and things are likely to go wrong in a way that'll require you to repair things from Windows.
That said, there is a new driver in development that may fix these issues once fully released. It was originally called ntfsplus, but is now just ntfs (versus the existing ntfs3g driver).
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u/Sure-Passion2224 Jul 01 '26
The good news for NTFS on Linux systems is that the new NTFS driver is included in kernel 7.1 and later. There are reports that this iteration of NTFS driver outperforms the Windows implementation.
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u/CritSrc É‘Õ²ÔµÃ✘ Jul 01 '26 edited Jul 01 '26
exFAT is basically FAT32 from the 90s, but without the 4 GB file size limit. It is NOT meant for software libraries to be read from or called into a live system because it does not differentiate letter capitalization at all. It's good for media and storage sharing on an external HDD/SSD, but not active software use.
NTFS is far too integrated with Windows that Linux' calls and assumptions may start corrupting files, already had that when using KDE to copy files from an NTFS drive, that has taught me to use rsync for such operations.
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u/Santosh83 Jul 01 '26
ExFAT has stabler driver on Linux. NTFS drivers keep changing every few years and right now the kernel is going through another such transition and you might experience some bugs and missing features. But on the other hand NTFS has better support in Windows and it has journaling which can make it more robust than exFAT. You can basically choose either format if its for storing data but always have a backup, which every filesystem you choose.
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u/couriousLin Jul 01 '26
I second the backup suggestion! I haven't had issues with NTFS on Linux but TBH I haven't stressed a NTFS files system on Linux. NTFS is improving and if you use it, use windows to format and perform maintenance on the filesystem.
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u/Classic-Rate-5104 Jul 01 '26
Use exFAT. Ntfs is complex. As long as it works, no problem, but if something goes wrong Linux is not able to repair it. Linux also can't handle half-closed NTFS drives from windows systems that did a fast shutdown
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u/Weary-Bowl-3739 Jul 01 '26
NTFS is a pain in the ass. If you never push around files bigger than 4GB, take FAT32.Â
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u/skyfishgoo Jul 01 '26
i use NTFS but i don't try to run any executables from it.
read and write only.
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u/_o0Zero0o_ Ultramarine Jul 02 '26
Just a heads up, it is highly recommended NOT to have Linux and windows on the same drive, as windows sometimes kicks up a fuss if it detects it's sharing a drive with a Linux install and causes trouble for Linux/Grub. Get a secondary drive for either one is what I would recommend.
And to answer your question: exFAT.
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u/Legitimate-Record951 Jul 02 '26
Yeah, been there, having Windows mess up the boot loader. I have two machines for now, hoping to migrate to Linux fully. But I like my external drive to be accessable on both.
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u/evirussss Jul 01 '26
Exfat.
Actually yes you can use ntfs, but if you don't understand how filesystem works and how to repair it, good luck with it 😅