Transferring files to a flash drive - “the file is too large for the destination file system”

Getting an error that your flash drive can't accept a file when you know that there is plenty of room on the drive can be frustrating.

Backing up to USB Flash Drives - A common problem for people is that when they try to transfer files to flash drives they get an error message that “the file is too large for the destination file system” even know they have plenty of space on the drive.  The cause is that most flash drives are formatted to the FAT32 format which is compatible with MAC’s and PC’s, but can only accept a file no larger than about 4GB. 

Say if you had a 16GB flash drive and wanted to transfer a 5GB video, you would get the error message when trying to transfer the file. 

The answer to that is to format the flash drive to a different file system.  On a PC, all you have to do is “right-click” on the flash drive in Windows File Explorer and click on “format”.  You will then choose the NTFS file system and click “start”. 

For a MAC, go to the Disk Utility app located in the Utilities folder.  Your flash drive should appear in the left-hand column.  Click the “Partition” tab and format the drive to “Mac OS Extended (Journaled).  This will give you full MAC compatibility and the flash drive will accept large files. 

Warning, when you format a drive, you will erase any files on that drive.  Make sure you choose the correct drive.

Here is a video to help you format your own drive, https://youtu.be/mdP9BBK0nu0