Limits
| File system | Maximum filename length | Allowable characters in directory entries | Maximum pathname length | Maximum file size | Maximum volume size |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acorn ADFS | 700113000000000000010 bytes | 7002115000000000000Any ISO 8859-1 character except: SPACE $ & % @ \ ^ : . # * " ¦ | No limit defined | 7009409600000000000512 MB or 70103200000000000004 GB | 7009409600000000000512 MB or 70103200000000000004 GB |
| Apple DOS 3.x | 700130000000000000030 bytes | 7002255000000000000Any byte except NUL | 700224000000000000030 B, no subdirectories (105 files per disk) | Unknown | 7005910000000000000113.75 kB DOS 3.1, 3.2 7006112000000000000140 kB DOS 3.3 (assuming standard 35 tracks) |
| Apple ProDOS | 700115000000000000015 bytes | 7001630000000000000A-Z, a-z, 0-9, and period | Unknown | 700812800000000000016 MB | 700825600000000000032 MB |
| CP/M file system | 70011100000000000008.3 | any byte except: SPACE < > ., ; : = ? * % | ( ) / \ | 16 "user areas", no subdirectories | 70076400000000000008 MB | 70076400000000000008 MB to 512 MB |
| IBM SFS | 70011600000000000008.8 | Unknown | Non-hierarchical | Unknown | Unknown |
| DECtape | 70009000000000000006.3 | 7001360000000000000A–Z, 0–9 | DTxN:FILNAM.EXT = 15 | 7006295424000000000369,280 B (577 * 640) | 7006295936000000000369,920 B (578 * 640) |
| Elektronika BK tape format | 700116000000000000016 bytes | Unknown | Non-hierarchical | 700551200000000000064 kB | Not limited. Approx. 800 kB (one side) for 90 min cassette |
| MicroDOS file system | 700114000000000000014 bytes | Unknown | Unknown | 700812800000000000016 MB | 700825600000000000032 MB |
| Level-D | 70009000000000000006.3 | 7001360000000000000A–Z, 0–9 | DEVICE:FILNAM.EXT = 7 + 10 + 15 = 32; + 5*7 for SFDs = 67 | 701119200000000000024 GB (34,359,738,368 words (235-1); 206,158,430,208 SIXBIT bytes) | 701096000000000000012 GB (approx; 64 * 178 MB) |
| RT-11 | 70009000000000000006.3 | 7001370000000000000A–Z, 0–9, $ | Non-hierarchical | 700825600000000000032 MB (65536 * 512) | 700825600000000000032 MB |
| V6FS | 700114000000000000014 bytes | 7002254000000000000Any byte except NUL and / | No limit defined | 700812800000000000016 MB | 70131600000000000002 TB |
| DOS (GEC) | 70008000000000000008 bytes | 7001360000000000000A–Z, 0–9 | Non-hierarchical | 700851200000000000064 MB | 700851200000000000064 MB |
| OS4000 | 70008000000000000008 bytes | 7001360000000000000A–Z, 0–9 Period is directory separator |
No limit defined | 70101600000000000002 GB | 70098000000000000001 GB (at least) |
| CBM DOS | 700116000000000000016 bytes | 7002255000000000000Any byte except NUL | Non-hierarchical | 700812800000000000016 MB | 700812800000000000016 MB |
| V7FS | 700114000000000000014 bytes | 7002254000000000000Any byte except NUL and / | No limit defined | 70098000000000000001 GB | 70131600000000000002 TB |
| exFAT | 7002510000000000000255 characters | 7006111411100000000Any Unicode except NUL | No limit defined | 7018101600000000000127 PB | 702351200000000000064 ZB, 512 TB recommended |
| TexFAT | 7002494000000000000247 characters | 7006111411100000000Any Unicode except NUL | No limit defined | 70101600000000000002 GB | 7012400000000000000500 GB Tested |
| FAT12 | 70011100000000000008.3 (255 UTF-16 code units with LFN) | 7006111411100000000Any byte except for values 0-31, 127 (DEL) and: " * / : < > ? \ | +, . ; = (lowcase a-z are stored as A-Z). With VFAT LFN any Unicode except NUL | No limit defined | 700825600000000000032 MB (7009204800000000000256 MB) | 700825600000000000032 MB (7009204800000000000256 MB) |
| FAT16 | 70011100000000000008.3 (255 UTF-16 code units with LFN) | 7006111411100000000Any byte except for values 0-31, 127 (DEL) and: " * / : < > ? \ | +, . ; = (lowcase a-z are stored as A-Z). With VFAT LFN any Unicode except NUL | No limit defined | 70101600000000000002 GB (70103200000000000004 GB) | 70101600000000000002 GB or 4 GB |
| FAT32 | 70011100000000000008.3 (255 UTF-16 code units with LFN) | 7006111411100000000Any byte except for values 0-31, 127 (DEL) and: " * / : < > ? \ | +, . ; = (lowcase a-z are stored as A-Z). With VFAT LFN any Unicode except NUL | No limit defined | 70103200000000000004 GB (7012204800000000000256 GB) | 70131600000000000002 TB (701412800000000000016 TB) |
| FATX | 700142000000000000042 bytes | 7002108000000000000ASCII. Unicode not permitted. | No limit defined | 70101600000000000002 GB | 70101600000000000002 GB |
| Fossil | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown |
| MFS | 7002255000000000000255 bytes | 7002255000000000000Any byte except : | No path (flat filesystem) | 7009180800000000000226 MB | 7009180800000000000226 MB |
| HFS | 700131000000000000031 bytes | 7002255000000000000Any byte except : | Unlimited | 70101600000000000002 GB | 70131600000000000002 TB |
| HPFS | 7002255000000000000255 bytes | 7002255000000000000Any byte except NUL | No limit defined | 70101600000000000002 GB | 70131600000000000002 TB |
| NTFS | 7002510000000000000255 characters | 7006111410200000000Depends on namespace used | 32,767 Unicode characters with each path component (directory or filename) commonly up to 255 characters long | 702012800000000000016 EB | 702012800000000000016 EB |
| ReFS | 7001640000000000000255 unicode characters | Unknown | 700525600000000000032 kB | 702012800000000000016 EB | 7002256000000000000Format supports 256ZB with 16kB cluster size (2^64 * 16 * 2^10). Windows stack addressing allows 16EB |
| HFS Plus | 7002510000000000000255 UTF-16 code units | 7006111411200000000Any valid Unicode | Unlimited | 70196400000000000008 EB | 70196400000000000008 EB |
| FFS | 7002255000000000000255 bytes | 7002255000000000000Any byte except NUL | No limit defined | 70226400000000000008 ZB | 70226400000000000008 ZB |
| UFS1 | 7002255000000000000255 bytes | 7002255000000000000Any byte except NUL | No limit defined | 7015180800000000000226 TB | 7015180800000000000226 TB |
| UFS2 | 7002255000000000000255 bytes | 7002255000000000000Any byte except NUL | No limit defined | 701725600000000000032 PB | 70248000000000000001 YB |
| ext2 | 7002255000000000000255 bytes | 7002254000000000000Any byte except NUL and / | No limit defined | 70131600000000000002 TB | 701425600000000000032 TB |
| ext3 | 7002255000000000000255 bytes | 7002254000000000000Any byte except NUL and / | No limit defined | 70131600000000000002 TB | 701425600000000000032 TB |
| ext3cow | 7002255000000000000255 bytes | 7002254000000000000Any byte except NUL, / and @ | No limit defined | 70131600000000000002 TB | 701425600000000000032 TB |
| ext4 | 7002255000000000000255 bytes | 7002254000000000000Any byte except NUL and / | No limit defined | 701412800000000000016 TB | 70188000000000000001 EB |
| Lustre | 7002255000000000000255 bytes | 7002255000000000000Any byte except NUL and / | No limit defined | 701725600000000000032 PB (on ext4) | 70248000000000000001 YB (on ext4, 20 PB tested) |
| GPFS | 7002255000000000000255 UTF-8 codepoints | 7002255000000000000Any byte except NUL | No limit defined | 7027409600000000000512 YB | 7027409600000000000512 YB (4 PB tested) |
| GFS | 7002255000000000000255 | 7002255000000000000Any byte except NUL | No limit defined | 70196400000000000008 EB | 70196400000000000008 EB |
| ReiserFS | 70034032000000000004,032 bytes/226 characters | 7002255000000000000Any byte except NUL | No limit defined | 70136400000000000008 TB (v3.6), 2 GB (v3.5) | 701412800000000000016 TB |
| NILFS | 7002255000000000000255 bytes | 7002255000000000000Any byte except NUL | No limit defined | 70196400000000000008 EB | 70196400000000000008 EB |
| Reiser4 | 70033976000000000003,976 bytes | 7002254000000000000Any byte except / and NUL | No limit defined | 70136400000000000008 TB on x86 | Unknown |
| OCFS | 7002255000000000000255 bytes | 7002255000000000000Any byte except NUL | No limit defined | 70136400000000000008 TB | 70136400000000000008 TB |
| OCFS2 | 7002255000000000000255 bytes | 7002255000000000000Any byte except NUL | No limit defined | 70163200000000000004 PB | 70163200000000000004 PB |
| Reliance | 7002260000000000000260 bytes | OS specific | 7003208000000000000260 B | 70103200000000000004 GB | 70131600000000000002 TB |
| Reliance Nitro | 70031024000000000001,024 bytes | OS specific | 1024 bytes | 701425600000000000032 TB | 701425600000000000032 TB |
| JFS1 | 7002255000000000000255 bytes | 7002255000000000000Any byte except NUL | No limit defined | 70196400000000000008 EB | 70163200000000000004 PB |
| JFS | 7002255000000000000255 bytes | 7006111411100000000Any Unicode except NUL | No limit defined | 70163200000000000004 PB | 701725600000000000032 PB |
| QFS | 7002255000000000000255 bytes | 7002254000000000000Any byte except NUL | No limit defined | 702012800000000000016 EB | 70163200000000000004 PB |
| BFS | 7002255000000000000255 bytes | 7002255000000000000Any byte except NUL | No limit defined | 7012208000000000000260 GB | 70191600000000000002 EB |
| AdvFS | 7002226000000000000226 characters | 7002255000000000000Any byte except NUL | No limit defined | 701412800000000000016 TB | 701412800000000000016 TB |
| NSS | 7002226000000000000226 characters | Depends on namespace used | Only limited by client | 70136400000000000008 TB | 70136400000000000008 TB |
| NWFS | 700180000000000000080 bytes | Depends on namespace used | No limit defined | 70103200000000000004 GB | 70128000000000000001 TB |
| ODS-5 | 7002236000000000000236 bytes | Unknown | 4,096 bytes | 70131600000000000002 TB | 70131600000000000002 TB |
| VxFS | 7002255000000000000255 bytes | 7002255000000000000Any byte except NUL | No limit defined | 7015204800000000000256 TB | 7015204800000000000256 TB |
| UDF | 7002255000000000000255 bytes | 7006111411100000000Any Unicode except NUL | 1,023 bytes | 702012800000000000016 EB | 70131600000000000002 TB (hard disk), 8 TB (optical disc) |
| MINIX V1 FS | 700130000000000000014 or 30 bytes, set at filesystem creation time | 7002255000000000000Any byte except NUL | No limit defined | 700851200000000000064 MB | 700851200000000000064 MB |
| MINIX V2 FS | 700130000000000000014 or 30 bytes, set at filesystem creation time | 7002255000000000000Any byte except NUL | No limit defined | 70103200000000000004 GB | 70098000000000000001 GB, then 2 TB |
| MINIX V3 FS | 700160000000000000060 bytes | 7002255000000000000Any byte except NUL | No limit defined | 70103200000000000004 GB | 701412800000000000016 TB |
| VMFS2 | 7002128000000000000128 | 7002254000000000000Any byte except NUL and / | 2,048 | 70133200000000000004 TB | 701451200000000000064 TB |
| VMFS3 | 7002128000000000000128 | 7002254000000000000Any byte except NUL and / | 2,048 | 70131600000000000002 TB | 701451200000000000064 TB |
| ISO 9660:1988 | 7001110000000000000Level 1: 8.3, Level 2 & 3: ~ 180 |
Depends on Level | ~ 180 bytes? | 70103200000000000004 GB (Level 1 & 2) to 8 TB (Level 3) | 70136400000000000008 TB |
| Joliet ("CDFS") | 700212800000000000064 Unicode characters | 7006111205800000000All UCS-2 code except * / \ : ; and ? | Unknown | 70103200000000000004 GB (same as ISO 9660:1988) | 70136400000000000008 TB (same as ISO 9660:1988) |
| ISO 9660:1999 | Unknown (207?) | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown |
| High Sierra | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown |
| HAMMER | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | 70188000000000000001 EB |
| LTFS | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown |
| PramFS | 700131000000000000031 bytes | 7001310000000000000Any byte except NUL | Unknown | 70098000000000000001 GB | 70196400000000000008 EB |
| Lanyard Filesystem | 7002255000000000000255 bytes | Any byte except NUL and / | No limit defined | 702351200000000000064 ZB | 7006102400000000000128 kB to 702351200000000000064 ZB |
| LEAN | 70034068000000000004,068 bytes | 7006111411200000000case sensitive, in UTF-8 (any Unicode codepoint) | No limit defined | 70196400000000000008 EB | 70196400000000000008 EB |
| XFS | 7002255000000000000255 bytes | 7002255000000000000Any byte except NUL | No limit defined | 70196400000000000008 EB | 70196400000000000008 EB |
| ZFS | 7002255000000000000255 bytes | 7006111411100000000Any Unicode except NUL | No limit defined | 702012800000000000016 EB | 702012800000000000016 EB |
| Btrfs | 7002255000000000000255 bytes | 7002255000000000000Any byte except NUL | Unknown | 702012800000000000016 EB | 702012800000000000016 EB |
| File system | Maximum filename length | Allowable characters in directory entries | Maximum pathname length | Maximum file size | Maximum volume size |
Read more about this topic: Comparison Of File Systems
Famous quotes containing the word limits:
“In a virtuous action, I properly am; in a virtuous act, I add to the world; I plant into deserts conquered from Chaos and Nothing, and see the darkness receding on the limits of the horizon.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“The element running through entire nature, which we popularly call Fate, is known to us as limitation. Whatever limits us, we call Fate.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“Caring for children is a dance between setting appropriate limits as caretakers and avoiding unnecessary power struggles that result in unhappiness.”
—Charlotte Davis Kasl (20th century)