Which file system is commonly used by Windows operating systems?

NTFS, or New Technology File System, is the file system most commonly used by modern Windows operating systems. It was introduced with Windows NT and has continued to be the default file system for subsequent versions of Windows, including Windows 10 and Windows 11.

NTFS offers several significant advantages over earlier file systems like FAT32, including more advanced features such as file permissions and encryption, the ability to handle large file sizes and large volumes, as well as improved reliability and recovery options through logging. NTFS also supports disk quota limits, which help manage storage usage across multiple users on the same system.

While FAT32 is another option and is still used in certain scenarios due to its wide compatibility with different operating systems and devices, its limitations such as the maximum individual file size of 4GB restrict its viability for many modern applications. EXFAT is designed for flash drives and external storage and is often used in portable devices but is not the standard file system for installed operating systems. NFS is primarily a network file system used in Unix and Linux environments, making it less relevant for Windows-based systems.

Thus, NTFS is the preferred choice for the file system on Windows due to its robust feature set and ability to support modern computing needs.