Comparison of file systems

The following tables compare general and technical information for a number of computer file systems.

General information

File system	Creator	Year of introduction	Original operating system
DECtape	DEC	1964	PDP-6 Monitor
OS/3x0 FS	IBM	1964	OS/360
Level-D	DEC	1968	TOPS-10
George 3	ICT (later ICL)	1968	George 3
Version 6 Unix file system (V6FS)	Bell Labs	1972	Version 6 Unix
RT-11 file system	DEC	1973	RT-11
Disk Operating System (GEC DOS)	GEC	1973	Core Operating System
CP/M file system	Digital Research (Gary Kildall)	1974	CP/M
Files-11 ODS-1	DEC	1975	RSX-11
GEC DOS filing system extended	GEC	1977	OS4000
FAT (8-bit)	Microsoft (Marc McDonald) for NCR	1977	Microsoft Standalone Disk BASIC-80 (later Microsoft Standalone Disk BASIC-86)
DOS 3.x	Apple	1978	Apple DOS
UCSD p-System	UCSD	1978	UCSD p-System
CBM DOS	Commodore	1978	Commodore BASIC
Atari DOS	Atari	1979	Atari 8-bit
Version 7 Unix file system (V7FS)	Bell Labs	1979	Version 7 Unix
Files-11 ODS-2	DEC	1979	OpenVMS
FAT12	Seattle Computer Products (Tim Paterson)	1980	QDOS/86-DOS (later IBM PC DOS 1.0)
ProDOS	Apple	1980	Apple SOS (later ProDOS 8)
DFS	Acorn Computers Ltd	1982	Acorn BBC Micro MOS
ADFS	Acorn Computers Ltd	1983	Acorn Electron (later Arthur/RISC OS)
FFS	Kirk McKusick	1983	4.2BSD
FAT16	IBM, Microsoft	1984	PC DOS 3.0, MS-DOS 3.0
MFS	Apple	1984	System 1
Elektronika BK tape format	NPO "Scientific centre" (now Sitronics)	1985	Vilnius Basic, BK monitor program
HFS	Apple	1985	System 2.1
Amiga OFS[1]	Metacomco for Commodore	1985	Amiga OS
GEMDOS	Digital Research	1985	Atari TOS
NWFS	Novell	1985	NetWare 286
High Sierra	Ecma International	1986	MSCDEX for MS-DOS 3.1/3.2
FAT16B	Compaq	1987	Compaq MS-DOS 3.31
Minix V1 FS	Andrew S. Tanenbaum	1987	MINIX 1.0
Amiga FFS	Commodore	1988	Amiga OS 1.3
ISO 9660:1988	Ecma International, ISO	1988	MS-DOS, "classic" Mac OS, and AmigaOS
HPFS	IBM & Microsoft	1989	OS/2 1.2
ISO 9660: Rock Ridge extension	IEEE	1990c.1990	Unix
JFS1	IBM	1990	AIX
VxFS	VERITAS	1991	SVR4.0
ext	Rémy Card	1992	Linux
AdvFS	DEC	1993	Digital Unix
NTFS	Microsoft (Gary Kimura, Tom Miller)	1993	Windows NT 3.1
LFS	Margo Seltzer	1993	Berkeley Sprite
ext2	Rémy Card	1993	Linux, Hurd
Xiafs	Q. Frank Xia	1993	Linux
UFS1	Kirk McKusick	1994	4.4BSD
XFS	SGI	1994	IRIX
HFS	IBM	1994	MVS/ESA (now z/OS)
FAT16X	Microsoft	1995	MS-DOS 7.0 / Windows 95
ISO 9660: Joliet extension	Microsoft	1995	Microsoft Windows, Linux, "classic" Mac OS, and FreeBSD
UDF	ISO/ECMA/OSTA	1995	—N/a
FAT32, FAT32X	Microsoft	1996	MS-DOS 7.1 / Windows 95 OSR2
QFS	Sun Microsystems	1996	Solaris
GPFS	IBM	1996	AIX, Linux
Be File System	Be Inc. (D. Giampaolo, Cyril Meurillon)	1996	BeOS
Minix V2 FS	Andrew S. Tanenbaum	1997	MINIX 2.0
HFS Plus	Apple	1998	Mac OS 8.1
NSS	Novell	1998	NetWare 5
PolyServe File System (PSFS)	PolyServe	1998	Windows, Linux
Files-11 ODS-5	DEC	1998	OpenVMS V7.2
WAFL	NetApp	1998	Data ONTAP
ext3	Stephen Tweedie	1999	Linux
ISO 9660:1999	Ecma International, ISO	1999	Microsoft Windows, Linux, "classic" Mac OS, FreeBSD, and AmigaOS
JFS	IBM	1999	OS/2 Warp Server for e-business
GFS	Sistina (Red Hat)	2000	Linux
ReiserFS	Namesys	2001	Linux
zFS	IBM	2001	z/OS (backported to OS/390)
FATX	Microsoft	2002	Xbox
UFS2	Kirk McKusick	2002	FreeBSD 5.0
OCFS	Oracle Corporation	2002	Linux
SquashFS	Phillip Lougher, Robert Lougher	2002	Linux
VMFS2	VMware	2002	VMware ESX Server 2.0
Lustre	Cluster File Systems	2002	Linux
Fossil	Bell Labs	2003	Plan 9 version 4
Google File System	Google	2003	Linux
ZFS	Sun Microsystems	2004	Solaris
Reiser4	Namesys	2004	Linux
Non-Volatile File System	Palm, Inc.	2004	Palm OS Garnet
BeeGFS	Fraunhofer/	2005	Linux
GlusterFS	Gluster Inc.	2005	Linux
Minix V3 FS	Andrew S. Tanenbaum	2005	MINIX 3
OCFS2	Oracle Corporation	2005	Linux
NILFS	NTT	2005	Linux
VMFS3	VMware	2005	VMware ESX Server 3.0
GFS2	Red Hat	2006	Linux
ext4	various	2006	Linux
exFAT	Microsoft	2006	Windows CE 6.0
Btrfs	Chris Mason	2007	Linux
JXFS	Hyperion Entertainment	2008	AmigaOS 4.1
HAMMER	Matthew Dillon	2008	DragonFly BSD 2.0
LSFS	StarWind Software	2009	Linux, FreeBSD, Windows
UniFS	Nasuni	2009	Cloud
CASL	Nimble Storage	2010	Linux
OrangeFS	Omnibond and others	2011	Linux
VMFS5	VMware	2011	vSphere 5.0+
CHFS	University of Szeged	2011	NetBSD 6.0+
ReFS	Microsoft	2012	Windows Server 2012
F2FS	Samsung Electronics	2012	Linux
bcachefs	Kent Overstreet	2015	Linux
APFS	Apple	2016	macOS High Sierra, iOS 10.3
NOVA	University of California, San Diego	2017	Linux
BlueStore/CephFS	Red Hat, UC, Santa Cruz	2017	Linux
HAMMER2	Matthew Dillon	2017	DragonFly BSD 5.0
EROFS	Huawei	2018	Linux, Android
VaultFS	Swiss Vault	2022	Linux / Unix

Metadata

File system	Stores file owner	POSIX file permissions	Creation timestamps	Last access/ read timestamps	Last metadata change timestamps	Last archive timestamps	Access control lists	Security/ MAC labels	Extended attributes/ Alternate data streams/ forks	Metadata checksum/ ECC
bcachefs	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
BeeGFS	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	?	Yes	Yes
CP/M file system	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
DECtape	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Elektronika BK tape format	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes
Level-D	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes (date only)	Yes	Yes	Yes (FILDAE)	No	No	No
RT-11	No	No	Yes (date only)	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes
Version 6 Unix file system (V6FS)	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No
Version 7 Unix file system (V7FS)	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No
exFAT	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No
FAT12/FAT16/FAT32	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No
HPFS	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	?	Yes	No
NTFS	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
ReFS	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	?	Yes	Yes
HFS	No	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	No
HFS Plus	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	No
FFS	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
UFS1	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No
UFS2	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Partial
HAMMER	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
HAMMER2	Yes	Yes	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
LFS	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
EROFS	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
ext	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Xiafs	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
ext2	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
ext3	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
ext4	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Partial
NOVA	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes
Lustre	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
F2FS	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
GPFS	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
GFS	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
NILFS	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes
ReiserFS	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Reiser4	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
OCFS	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No
OCFS2	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
XFS	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
JFS	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
QFS	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No
BFS	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No
AdvFS	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	No
NSS	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	No
NWFS	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	No
Files-11 ODS-1	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No
Files-11 ODS-2	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	No
Files-11 ODS-5	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	No
APFS	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
VxFS	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	?	Yes	No
UDF	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Fossil	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
ZFS	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Btrfs	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Minix V1	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Minix V2	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Minix V3	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
VMFS2	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
VMFS3	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
ISO 9660:1988	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
ISO 9660: Rock Ridge extension	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
ISO 9660: Joliet extension	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
ISO 9660:1999	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
High Sierra	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
SquashFS	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	No
BlueStore/CephFS	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
File system	Stores file owner	POSIX file permissions	Creation timestamps	Last access/ read timestamps	Last metadata change timestamps	Last archive timestamps	Access control lists	Security/ MAC labels	Extended attributes/ Alternate data streams/ forks	Metadata checksum/ ECC

All widely used file systems record a last modified time stamp (also known as "mtime"). It is not included in the table.

Individual file systems may record additional special types of date and time stamps. For example, the specification of ISO 9660 includes a "File Expiration Date and Time" and a "File Effective Date and Time".

Features

File capabilities

File system	Hard links	Symbolic links	Block journaling	Metadata-only journaling	Case-sensitive	Case-preserving	File Change Log	XIP
DECtape	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
BeeGFS	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
Level-D	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
RT-11	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
APFS	Yes	Yes	?	?	Optional	Yes	?	?
Version 6 Unix file system (V6FS)	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No
Version 7 Unix file system (V7FS)	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No
exFAT	No	No	No	Partial (with TexFAT only)	No	Yes	No	No
FAT12	No	No	No	Partial (with TFAT12 only)	No	Partial (with VFAT LFNs only)	No	No
FAT16 / FAT16B / FAT16X	No	No	No	Partial (with TFAT16 only)	No	Partial (with VFAT LFNs only)	No	No
FAT32 / FAT32X	No	No	No?	Partial (with TFAT32 only)	No	Partial (with VFAT LFNs only)	No	No
GFS	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
HPFS	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No
NTFS	Yes	Yes	No	Yes (2000)	Yes	Yes	Yes	?
HFS Plus	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Optional	Yes	Yes	No
FFS	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No
UFS1	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No
UFS2	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	?
HAMMER	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	No
HAMMER2	Yes	Yes	?	?	?	?	?	?
LFS	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No
EROFS	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No
ext	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No
Xiafs	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No
ext2	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
ext3	Yes	Yes	Yes (2001)	Yes (2001)	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
ext4	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes, optional	Yes	No	Yes
NOVA	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
F2FS	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No
Lustre	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
NILFS	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No
ReiserFS	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	?
Reiser4	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	?
OCFS	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No
OCFS2	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
XFS	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?
JFS	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes (1990)	Yes	Yes	No	?
QFS	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
BFS	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	No
NSS	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
NWFS	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Files-11 ODS-1	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Files-11 ODS-2	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	No
Files-11 ODS-5	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	?
UDF	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
VxFS	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	?
Fossil	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
ZFS	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No
Btrfs	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	?	?
bcachefs	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes, optional	Yes	?	?
Minix V1	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No
Minix V2	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No
Minix V3	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No
VMFS2	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
VMFS3	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
ReFS	Yes	Yes	?	?	Yes	Yes	?	?
ISO 9660	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
ISO 9660: Rock Ridge extension	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No
ISO 9660: Joliet extension	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No
SquashFS	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No
BlueStore/CephFS	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
File system	Hard links	Symbolic links	Block journaling	Metadata-only journaling	Case-sensitive	Case-preserving	File Change Log	XIP

Block capabilities

Note that in addition to the below table, block capabilities can be implemented below the file system layer in Linux (LVM, integritysetup, cryptsetup) or Windows (Volume Shadow Copy Service, SECURITY), etc.

File system	Internal snapshotting / branching	Encryption	Deduplication	Data checksum/ ECC	Persistent Cache	Multiple Devices	Compression	Self-healing
DECtape	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
BeeGFS	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No
Level-D	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
RT-11	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
APFS	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No
Version 6 Unix file system (V6FS)	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Version 7 Unix file system (V7FS)	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
exFAT	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
FAT12	No	No	No	No	No	No	Partial	No
FAT16 / FAT16B / FAT16X	No	No	No	No	No	No	Partial	No
FAT32 / FAT32X	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
GFS	No	No	?	No	No	No	No	No
HPFS	?	No	?	No	No	No	No	No
NTFS	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No
HFS Plus	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
FFS	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
UFS1	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
UFS2	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
HAMMER	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No
HAMMER2	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	?	?	Yes	Pending
LFS	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
EROFS	No	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	No
ext	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Xiafs	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
ext2	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
ext3	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
ext4	No	Yes, experimental	No	No	No	No	No	No
NOVA	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	?
F2FS	No	Yes, experimental	No	No	No	No	Yes	No
Lustre	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No
NILFS	Yes, continuous	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No
ReiserFS	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Reiser4	?	Yes	?	No	No	No	Yes	No
OCFS	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
OCFS2	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
XFS	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
JFS	?	No	?	No	No	No	only in JFS1 on AIX	No
QFS	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
BFS	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
NSS	Yes	Yes	?	No	No	No	Yes	No
NWFS	?	No	?	No	No	No	Yes	No
Files-11 ODS-2	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Files-11 ODS-5	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	?
UDF	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
VxFS	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Fossil	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No
ZFS	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Btrfs	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
bcachefs	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Minix V1	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Minix V2	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Minix V3	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
VMFS2	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
VMFS3	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
ReFS	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
ISO 9660	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
ISO 9660: Rock Ridge extension	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
ISO 9660: Joliet extension	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
SquashFS	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No
BlueStore/CephFS	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
File system	Internal snapshotting / branching	Encryption	Deduplication	Data checksum/ ECC	Persistent Cache	Multiple Devices	Compression	Self-healing

Resize capabilities

"Online" and "offline" are synonymous with "mounted" and "not mounted".

File system	Host OS	Offline grow	Online grow	Offline shrink	Online shrink	Add and remove physical volumes
exFAT	misc.	No	No	No	No	No
FAT16 / FAT16B / FAT16X	misc.	Yes	No	Yes	No	No
FAT32 / FAT32X	misc.	Yes	No	Yes	No	No
NTFS	Windows	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
ReFS	Windows	?	Yes	?	No	No
HFS	macOS	No	No	No	No	No
HFS Plus	macOS	No	Yes	No	Yes	No
APFS	macOS	?	Yes	?	Yes	?
HAMMER	DragonflyBSD	?	?	?	?	?
EROFS	Linux	Yes	No	No	No	Yes
ext2	Linux	Yes	No	Yes	No	No
ext3	Linux	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
ext4	Linux	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
NOVA	Linux	No	No	No	No	No
F2FS	Linux	Yes	No	No	No	No
Lustre	Linux	?	Yes	No	No	Yes
XFS	Linux	No	Yes	No	No	No
JFS2	AIX	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
JFS	Linux	Yes	No	No	No	No
NTFS	Linux	Yes	No	Yes	No	No
ReiserFS	Linux	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
Reiser4	Linux	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
Btrfs	Linux	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
bcachefs	Linux	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes
NILFS	Linux	No	Yes	No	Yes	No
ZFS	misc.	No	Yes	No	Yes	Partial
UFS2	FreeBSD	Yes	Yes (FreeBSD 10.0-RELEASE or later)	No	No	No
SquashFS	Linux	No	No	No	No	No
BlueStore/CephFS	Linux	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes

Allocation and layout policies

File system	Sparse files	Block suballocation	Tail packing	Extents	Variable block size	Inline data (resident files)	Allocate-on-flush	Copy on write	Trim support
DECtape	No	No	No	No	No	?	No	No	No
BeeGFS	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	?
Level-D	No	No	No	Yes	No	?	No	No	?
APFS	Yes	?	?	Yes	?	?	Yes	Yes	Yes
Version 6 Unix file system (V6FS)	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	?	No
Version 7 Unix file system (V7FS)	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	?	No
exFAT	No	No	No	Partial (only if the file fits into one contiguous block range)	No	No	No	No	Yes (Linux)
FAT12	Partial (only inside of compressed volumes)	Partial (only inside of Stacker 3/4 and DriveSpace 3 compressed volumes)	No	Partial (only inside of compressed volumes)	No	No	No	No	Yes (Linux)
FAT16 / FAT16B / FAT16X	Partial (only inside of compressed volumes)	Partial (only inside of Stacker 3/4 and DriveSpace 3 compressed volumes)	No	Partial (only inside of compressed volumes)	No	No	No	No	Yes (Linux)
FAT32 / FAT32X	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes (Linux)
GFS	Yes	No	Partial	No	No	?	No	?	Yes
HPFS	No	No	No	Yes	No	?	No	?	Yes (Linux)
NTFS	Yes	Partial	No	Yes	No	Yes (approximately 700 bytes)	No	?	Yes (NT 6.1+; Linux)
HFS Plus	No	No	No	Yes	No	?	No	?	Yes (macOS)
FFS	Yes	8:1	No	No	No	No	No	?	No
UFS1	Yes	8:1	No	No	No	No	No	?	No
UFS2	Yes	8:1	No	No	Read-only so far	No	No	?	Yes
HAMMER	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	Yes	?
HAMMER2	?	?	?	?	?	Yes	?	Yes	?
LFS	Yes	8:1	No	No	No	?	No	Yes	?
EROFS	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No
ext	Yes	No	No	No	No	?	No	No	No
Xiafs	Yes	No	No	No	No	?	No	?	?
ext2	Yes	No	No	No	No	?	No	No	Yes
ext3	Yes	No	No	No	No	?	No	No	Yes
ext4	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	Yes (inode size - 96B)	Yes	No	Yes
NOVA	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	?	No	Yes	?
F2FS	Yes	No	No	Partial	No	Yes (approximately 3.4KB)	Yes	Yes	Yes
Lustre	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	?	Yes	?	?
NILFS	Yes	No	No	No	No	?	Yes	Yes	Yes (Linux NILFS2)
ReiserFS	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	?	?
Reiser4	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	?	Testing
OCFS	?	No	No	Yes	No	?	No	?	?
OCFS2	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	?	Yes (Linux)
XFS	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	No (not accepted)	Yes	Yes, on request	Yes (Linux)
JFS	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes (256 bytes)	No	?	Yes (Linux)
QFS	?	Yes	No	No	No	?	No	?	?
BFS	?	No	No	Yes	No	?	No	?	Yes (Haiku)
NSS	?	No	No	Yes	No	?	Yes	?	?
NWFS	?	Yes	No	No	No	?	No	?	?
Files-11 ODS-5	?	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	?	?
VxFS	Yes	?	No	Yes	No	?	No	?	?
UDF	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	Depends on implementation.	Yes, for write once read many media	No
Fossil	?	No	No	No	No	?	No	?	?
ZFS	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes (112 bytes)	Yes	Yes	Yes
Btrfs	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes (2 KiB)	Yes	Yes	Yes
bcachefs	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes (half block size)	Yes	Yes	Yes
VMFS2	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	?	No	?	?
VMFS3	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	?	No	?	?
ReFS	Yes	?	?	?	No	?	?	Yes	Yes (NT 6.1+)
ISO 9660	No	No	No	ISO 9660 Level 3 only	No	?	No	No	No
ISO 9660: Rock Ridge extension	No	No	No	extended from ISO 9660	No	?	No	No	No
ISO 9660: Joliet extension	No	No	No	extended from ISO 9660	No	?	No	No	No
SquashFS	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	?	No	No	No
BlueStore/CephFS	Yes	?	?	?	?	?	No	Yes	Yes
File system	Sparse files	Block suballocation	Tail packing	Extents	Variable block size	Inline data (resident files)	Allocate-on-flush	Copy on write	Trim support

OS support

File system	DOS	Linux	macOS	Windows 9x (historic)	Windows (current)	Classic Mac OS	FreeBSD	OS/2	BeOS	Minix	Solaris	z/OS	Android
DECtape	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
BeeGFS	No	Yes	?	No	No	No	No	No	?	?	?	No	No
Level-D	No	?	?	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	?	?	No
RT-11	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
APFS	No	Partial (read-only with apfs-fuse or linux-apfs)	Yes (Since macOS Sierra)	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Version 6 Unix file system (V6FS)	No	?	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Version 7 Unix file system (V7FS)	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	?	?	?	No	No
exFAT	No	Yes (since 5.4, available as a kernel module or FUSE driver for earlier versions)	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes (available as a FUSE driver)	No	No	No	Yes (available as a FUSE driver)	No	With kernel 5.10
FAT12	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Partial (via dosdir, dosread, doswrite)	Yes	?	Yes
FAT16 / FAT16B / FAT16X	Yes (FAT16 from DOS 3.0, FAT16B from DOS 3.31, FAT16X from DOS 7.0)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Partial (via dosdir, dosread, doswrite, not FAT16X)	Yes	?	Yes
FAT32 / FAT32X	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	?	Yes
GFS	No	Yes	?	No	No	No	No	?	?	?	?	?	No
HPFS	Partial (with third-party drivers)	Yes	?	No	No	?	Yes	Yes (from OS/2 1.2)	?	No	?	?	No
NTFS	Needs 3rd-party drivers	Yes Native since Linux Kernel 5.15 NTFS3. Older kernels may use backported NTFS3 driver or ntfs-3g	Read only, write support needs Paragon NTFS or ntfs-3g	Needs 3rd-party drivers like Paragon NTFS for Win98, DiskInternals NTFS Reader	Yes	No	Yes with ntfs-3g	?	Yes with ntfs-3g	No	Yes with ntfs-3g	?	With third party tools
HFS	No	Yes	No write support since Mac OS X 10.6 and no support at all since macOS 10.15	No	Needs Paragon HFS+	Yes	No	?	Yes	No	?	No	No
HFS Plus	No	Partial - writing support only to unjournalled FS	Yes	No	Needs Paragon HFS+	Yes from Mac OS 8.1	No	?	with addon	No	?	No	No
FFS	No	?	Yes	No	?	?	Yes	?	?	?	?	?	No
UFS1	No	Partial - read only	Yes	No	Partial (with ufs2tools, read only)	?	Yes	No	?	?	Yes	?	No
UFS2	No	Yes	Yes	No	Partial (with ufs2tools, read only)	?	Yes	No	?	?	?	?	No
LFS	No	?	?	No	No	?	No	No	?	?	?	?	No
EROFS	No	Yes	Needs - since erofs-utils 1.4	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes
ext	No	Yes - until 2.1.20	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Xiafs	No	Yes - until 2.1.20 Experimental port available to 2.6.32 and later	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
ext2	No	Yes	Needs Paragon ExtFS or ext2fsx	Partial (read-only, with explore2fs)	Needs Paragon ExtFS or partial with Ext2 IFS or ext2fsd	No	Yes	No	Yes	?	?	?	No
ext3	No	Yes	Needs Paragon ExtFS or partial with ext2fsx (journal not updated on writing)	Partial (read-only, with explore2fs)	Needs Paragon ExtFS or partial with Ext2 IFS or ext2fsd	Partial (read only)[citation needed]	Yes	No	with addon	?	Yes	?	Yes
ext4	No	Yes	Needs Paragon ExtFS	No	Yes, with the optional WSL2; physical and VHDX virtual disks.	?	Yes since FreeBSD 12.0	No	with addon	?	?	?	Yes
NOVA	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
F2FS	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes
Lustre	No	Yes	?	No	No	?	No	?	?	?	Yes	?	No
NILFS	No	Yes as an external kernel module	?	No	?	?	No	?	?	?	?	?	No
ReiserFS	No	Yes - until 6.13	?	No	No	?	Partial - Read Only from 6.0 to 10.x and dropped in 11.0	?	with addon	?	?	?	No
Reiser4	No	Yes with a kernel patch	?	No	No	?	No	?	?	?	?	?	No
SpadFS	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	?	No	No	No	No	No	No
OCFS	No	Yes	?	No	No	?	No	No	?	?	?	?	No
OCFS2	No	Yes	?	No	No	?	No	No	?	?	?	?	No
XFS	No	Yes	?	No	No	?	Partial	?	with addon (read only)	?	?	?	No
JFS	No	Yes	?	No	No	?	No	Yes	?	?	?	?	No
QFS	No	Client	?	No	No	?	No	No	?	?	Yes	?	No
Be File System	No	Partial - read-only	?	No	No	?	No	No	Yes	?	?	?	No
NSS	No	Yes via EVMS	?	No	No	?	No	No	?	?	?	?	No
NWFS	Partial (with Novell drivers)	?	?	No	No	?	Yes	No	?	?	?	?	No
Files-11 ODS-2	No	?	?	No	No	?	No	No	?	?	?	?	No
Files-11 ODS-5	No	?	?	No	No	?	No	No	?	?	?	?	No
UDF	No	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	?	Yes	?	?	?	Yes	?	No
VxFS	No	Yes	?	No	No	?	No	No	?	?	Yes	?	No
Fossil	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	?	No
ZFS	No	Yes with FUSE or as an external kernel module	Yes with Read/Write Developer Preview	No	With third-party software (OpenZFS).	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	No
Btrfs	No	Yes	?	No	Yes with WinBtrfs	?	No	?	?	?	?	?	No
bcachefs	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
VMFS2	No	?	?	No	No	?	No	No	?	?	?	?	No
VMFS3	No	?	?	No	No	?	No	No	?	?	?	?	No
IBM HFS	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No
IBM zFS	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No
ReFS	No	Needs Paragon ReFS for Linux	?	No	Yes	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	No
ISO 9660	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
ISO 9660: Rock Ridge extension	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	?	No
ISO 9660: Joliet extension	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	?	No
SquashFS	No	Yes	Partial (There are ports of unsquashfs and mksquashfs.)	No	Partial (There are ports of unsquashfs and mksquashfs.)	No	Partial (There are ports of unsquashfs and mksquashfs and fusefs-port.)	No	No	No	No	No	No
BlueStore/CephFS	No	Yes	Client	No	Client	No	Client	No	No	No	No	No	No
File system	DOS	Linux	macOS	Windows 9x (historic)	Windows (current)	Classic Mac OS	FreeBSD	OS/2	BeOS	Minix	Solaris	z/OS	Android

Limits

While storage devices usually have their size expressed in powers of 10 (for instance a 1 TB Solid State Drive will contain at least 1,000,000,000,000 (1012, 10004) bytes), filesystem limits are invariably powers of 2, so usually expressed with IEC prefixes. For instance, a 1 TiB limit means 240, 10244 bytes. Approximations (rounding down) using power of 10 are also given below to clarify.

No filesystem has ever allowed NUL, so it won't be listed in the table below even if the text says “Any byte” or “?”.

File system	Maximum filename length	Allowable characters in directory entries	Maximum pathname length	Maximum file size	Maximum volume size	Max number of files
AdvFS	255 bytes	Any byte except /	No limit defined	16 TiB (17.59 TB)	16 TiB (17.59 TB)	?
APFS	255 bytes	Any Unicode 9.0 character except /	?	8 EiB (9.223 EB)	?	263
bcachefs	512 bytes	Any byte except /	No limit defined	8 EiB (9.22 EB)	2040 PiB (2.3 EB)	264
BeeGFS	255 bytes	Any byte	No limit defined	16 EiB (18.44 EB)	16 EiB (18.44 EB)	?
BFS	255 bytes	Any byte	No limit defined	12,288 bytes to 260 GiB (279.1 GB)	256 PiB (288.2 PB) to 2 EiB (2.305 EB)	Unlimited
BlueStore/CephFS	255 characters	any byte, except "/"	No limit defined	Max. 264 bytes, 1 TiB (1.099 TB) by default	Not limited	Not limited, default is 100,000 files per directory
Btrfs	255 bytes	Any byte except /	No limit defined	16 EiB (18.44 EB)	16 EiB (18.44 EB)	264
CBM DOS	16 bytes	Any byte	No directory hierarchy (flat file system)	16 MiB (16.77 MB)	16 MiB (16.77 MB)	?
CP/M file system	8.3	ASCII except for < > . , ; : = ? * [ ]	No directory hierarchy (but accessibility of files depends on user areas via USER command since CP/M 2.2)	32 MiB (33.55 MB)	512 MiB (536.8 MB)	?
DECtape	6.3	A–Z, 0–9	DTxN:FILNAM.EXT = 15	369,280 bytes (577×640)	369,920 bytes (578×640)	?
Disk Operating System (GEC DOS)	?	?	?	? at least 131,072 bytes	?	?
Elektronika BK tape format	16 bytes	?	No directory hierarchy (flat file system)	64 KiB (65.53 KB)	Not limited. Approx. 800 KiB (819.2 KB) (one side) for 90 min cassette	?
EROFS	255 bytes	Any byte except /	No limit defined	16 EiB (18.44 EB)	1 EiB (1.152 EB)	264
exFAT	255 UTF-16 characters	Unicode except for control codes 0x0000 - 0x001F or " * / : < > ? \ \|	32,760 characters with each path component no more than 255 characters	16 EiB (18.44 EB)	64 ZiB (75.55 ZB) (276 bytes)	?
ext	255 bytes	Any byte except /	No limit defined	2 GiB (2.147 GB)	2 GiB (2.147 GB)	?
ext2	255 bytes	Any byte except /	No limit defined	16 GiB (17.17 GB) to 2 TiB (2.199 TB)	2 TiB (2.199 TB) to 32 TiB (35.18 TB)	?
ext3	255 bytes	Any byte except /	No limit defined	16 GiB (17.17 GB) to 2 TiB (2.199 TB)	2 TiB (2.199 TB) to 32 TiB (35.18 TB)	?
ext4	255 bytes	Any byte except /	No limit defined	16 GiB (17.17 GB) to 16 TiB (17.59 TB)	1 EiB (1.152 EB)	232 (static inode limit specified at creation)
F2FS	255 bytes	Any byte except /	No limit defined	4,228,213,756 KiB (4.329 TB)	16 TiB (17.59 TB)	?
FAT (8-bit)	6.3 (binary files) / 9 characters (ASCII files)	ASCII (0x00 and 0xFF not allowed in first character)	No directory hierarchy (flat file system)	?	?	?
FAT12/FAT16	8.3 (255 UCS-2 characters with LFN)	SFN: OEM A-Z, 0–9, ! # $ % & ' ( ) - @ ^ _ ` { } ~, 0x80-0xFF, 0x20. LFN: Unicode except " * / : < > ? \ \|	No limit defined	32 MiB (33.55 MB) (4 GiB (4.294 GB))	1 MiB (1.048 MB) to 32 MiB (33.55 MB)	?
FAT16B/FAT16X	8.3 (255 UCS-2 characters with LFN)	SFN: OEM A-Z, 0–9, ! # $ % & ' ( ) - @ ^ _ ` { } ~, 0x80-0xFF, 0x20. LFN: Unicode except " * / : < > ? \ \|	No limit defined	2 (4) GiB (2.147 GB)	16 MiB (16.77 MB) to 2 (4) GiB (2.147 GB)	?
FAT32/FAT32X	8.3 (255 UCS-2 characters with LFN)	SFN: OEM A-Z, 0–9, ! # $ % & ' ( ) - @ ^ _ ` { } ~, 0x80-0xFF, 0x20. LFN: Unicode except " * / : < > ? \ \|	32,760 characters with each path component no more than 255 characters	4 GiB (4.294 GB)	512 MiB (536.8 MB) to 16 TiB (17.59 TB)	?
FATX	42 bytes	ASCII.	No limit defined	2 GiB (2.147 GB)	16 MiB (16.77 MB) to 2 GiB (2.147 GB)	?
FFS	255 bytes	Any byte except /	No limit defined	4 GiB (4.294 GB)	256 TiB (281.4 TB)	?
Files-11 ODS-1	9.3 in RADIX-50	A–Z, 0–9, $	No limit defined; only two-level paths supported by operating systems	2 TiB (2.199 TB)	2 TiB (2.199 TB)	216-1
Files-11 ODS-2	20 bytes	A–Z, 0–9, $, -, _	4,096 bytes	2 TiB (2.199 TB)	2 TiB (2.199 TB)	224-1
Files-11 ODS-5	236 bytes	ISO 8859-1 or UCS-2	4,096 bytes	2 TiB (2.199 TB)	2 TiB (2.199 TB)	?
Fossil	?	?	?	?	?	?
GEC DOS filing system extended	8 bytes	A–Z, 0–9. Period was directory separator	? No limit defined (workaround for OS limit)	? at least 131,072 bytes	?	?
GEMDOS	8.3	A-Z, a-z, 0-9 ! @ # $ % ^ & ( ) + - = ~ ` ; ' " , < > \| [ ] ( ) _	?	?	?	?
GFS2	255 bytes	Any byte except /	No limit defined	100 TiB (109.95 TB) to 8 EiB (9.223 EB)	100 TiB (109.95 TB) to 8 EiB (9.223 EB)	?
GFS	255 bytes	Any byte except /	No limit defined	2 TiB (2.199 TB) to 8 EiB (9.223 EB)	2 TiB (2.199 TB) to 8 EiB (9.223 EB)	?
GPFS	255 UTF-8 codepoints[citation needed]	Any byte	No limit defined	9 EiB (10.37 EB)	524,288 YiB (299 bytes)	?
HAMMER	1023 bytes	Any byte except /	?	?	1 EiB (1.152 EB)	?
HFS	31 bytes	Any byte except :; in macOS, : in file names is converted to / in the file system, and / are disallowed	Unlimited	2 GiB (2.147 GB)	2 TiB (2.199 TB)	?
HFS Plus	255 UTF-16 code units	Any valid Unicode character except :; in macOS, : in file names is converted to / in the file system, and / are disallowed	Unlimited	slightly less than 8 EiB (9.223 EB)	slightly less than 8 EiB (9.223 EB)	?
High Sierra Format	?	?	?	?	?	?
HPFS	255 bytes	Any byte	No limit defined	2 GiB (2.147 GB)	2 TiB (2.199 TB)	?
IBM SFS	8.8	?	Non-hierarchical	?	?	?
ISO 9660:1988	Level 1: 8.3, Level 2 & 3: ~ 180	Depends on Level	~ 180 bytes?	4 GiB (4.294 GB) (Level 1 & 2) to 8 TiB (8.796 TB) (Level 3)	8 TiB (8.796 TB)	?
ISO 9660:1999	?	?	?	?	?	?
JFS	255 bytes	Any Unicode	No limit defined	4 PiB (4.503 PB)	32 PiB (36.02 PB)	?
JFS1	255 bytes	Any byte except /	No limit defined	8 EiB (9.223 EB)	512 TiB (562.9 TB) to 4 PiB (4.503 PB)	?
ISO 9660: Joliet extension	64 characters	All UCS-2 code except *, /, \, :, ;, and ?	?	same as ISO 9660:1988	same as ISO 9660:1988	?
Level-D	6.3	A–Z, 0–9	DEVICE:FILNAM.EXT[PROJCT,PROGRM] = 7 + 10 + 15 = 32; + 5*7 for SFDs = 67	34,359,738,368 words (235); 206,158,430,208 SIXBIT bytes	Approx 12 GiB (12.88 GB) (64×178 MiB (186.6 MB))	?
Lustre	255 bytes	Any byte	No limit defined	16 EiB (18.44 EB) on ZFS	16 EiB (18.44 EB)	?
MFS	255 bytes	Any byte except :	No directory hierarchy (flat file system)	256 MiB (268.4 MB)	256 MiB (268.4 MB)	?
MicroDOS file system	14 bytes	?	?	16 MiB (16.77 MB)	32 MiB (33.55 MB)	?
Minix V1 FS	14 or 30 bytes, set at filesystem creation time	Any byte	No limit defined	256.5 MiB (268.9 MB)	64 MiB (67.10 MB)	?
Minix V2 FS	14 or 30 bytes, set at filesystem creation time	Any byte	No limit defined	2 GiB (2.147 GB)	1 GiB (1.073 GB)	?
Minix V3 FS	60 bytes	Any byte	No limit defined	2 GiB (2.147 GB)	4 GiB (4.294 GB)	?
NILFS	255 bytes	Any byte except /	No limit defined	8 EiB (9.223 EB)	8 EiB (9.223 EB)	?
NOVA	255 bytes	Any byte except /	No limit defined	16 EiB (18.44 EB)	16 EiB (18.44 EB)	?
NSS	256 UTF-16 code units	Depends on namespace used	Only limited by client	8 TiB (8.796 TB)	8 TiB (8.796 TB)	?
NTFS	255 UTF-16 code units	In Win32 namespace: any UTF-16 code unit (case-insensitive) except /\:*"?<>\| In POSIX namespace: any UTF-16 code unit (case-sensitive) except /	32,767 UTF-16 code units with each path component (directory or filename) up to 255 UTF-16 code units long. However, the limit is approximate due to UNC, and some limitations may be removed on demand.	16 TiB (17.59 TB) to 8 PiB (9.007 PB)	16 TiB (17.59 TB) to 8 PiB (9.007 PB)	232
NWFS	80 bytes	Depends on namespace used	No limit defined	4 GiB (4.294 GB)	1 TiB (1.099 TB)	?
OCFS	255 bytes	Any byte	No limit defined	8 TiB (8.796 TB)	8 TiB (8.796 TB)	?
OCFS2	255 bytes	Any byte	No limit defined	4 PiB (4.503 PB)	4 PiB (4.503 PB)	?
QFS	255 bytes	Any byte	No limit defined	16 EiB (18.44 EB)	4 PiB (4.503 PB)	?
ReFS	255 UTF-16 code units	In Win32 namespace: any UTF-16 code unit (case-insensitive) except /\:*"?<>\| In POSIX namespace: any UTF-16 code unit (case-sensitive) except /	32,767 characters with each path component (directory or filename) up to 255 characters long	16 EiB (18.44 EB)	1 YiB (1.208 YB)	?
ReiserFS	4032 bytes/255 characters	Any byte except /	No limit defined	8 TiB (8.796 TB) (v3.6), 4 GiB (4.294 GB) (v3.5)	16 TiB (17.59 TB)	?
Reiser4	3976 bytes	Any byte except /	No limit defined	8 TiB (8.796 TB) on x86	?	?
ISO 9660: Rock Ridge extension	255 bytes	Any byte except /	No limit defined	same as ISO 9660:1988	same as ISO 9660:1988	?
RT-11	6.3 in RADIX-50	A–Z, 0–9, $	No directory hierarchy (flat file system)	33,554,432 bytes (65536×512)	33,554,432 bytes	?
SquashFS	256 bytes	?	No limit defined	16 EiB (18.44 EB)	16 EiB (18.44 EB)	?
UDF	255 bytes	Any Unicode	1,023 bytes	16 EiB (18.44 EB)	512 MiB (536.8 MB) to 16 TiB (17.59 TB)	?
UFS1	255 bytes	Any byte except /	No limit defined	16 GiB (17.17 GB) to 256 TiB (281.4 TB)	16 EiB (18.44 EB)	Subdirectory per directory is 32,767
UFS2	255 bytes	Any byte except /	No limit defined	512 GiB (549.7 GB) to 32 PiB (36.02 PB)	512 ZiB (604.4 ZB) (279 bytes)	Subdirectory per directory is 32,767
UniFS	No limit defined (depends on client)	?	No limit defined (depends on client)	Available cache space at time of write (depends on platform)	No limit defined	No limit defined
VaultFS	configurable (1024 default)	Any byte	No limit defined	No limit defined	No limit defined	No limit defined
Version 6 Unix file system (V6FS)	14 bytes	Any byte except /	No limit defined	16 MiB (16.77 MB)	32 MiB (33.55 MB)	?
Version 7 Unix file system (V7FS)	14 bytes	Any byte except /	No limit defined	1 GiB (1.073 GB)	2 TiB (2.199 TB)	?
VMFS2	128	Any byte except /	2,048	4 TiB (4.398 TB)	64 TiB (70.36 TB)	?
VMFS3	128	Any byte except /	2,048	2 TiB (2.199 TB)	64 TiB (70.36 TB)	?
VxFS	255 bytes	Any byte except /	No limit defined	16 EiB (18.44 EB)	?	?
XFS	255 bytes	Any byte except /	No limit defined	8 EiB (9.223 EB)	8 EiB (9.223 EB)	264
Xiafs	248 bytes	Any byte	No limit defined	64 MiB (67.10 MB)	2 GiB (2.147 GB)	?
ZFS	1023 bytes	Any byte except /	No limit defined	16 EiB (18.44 EB)	268,435,456 QiB (2128 bytes)	2128
File system	Maximum filename length	Allowable characters in directory entries	Maximum pathname length	Maximum file size	Maximum volume size	Max number of files

Date ranges and time granularity
File system	Start date (time)	End date (time)	Granularity (last modified time)
APFS	1970-01-01 00:00:00	2554-07-21 23:34:33	0.000000001 seconds (1 nanosecond)
Btrfs	1970-01-01 - ~292 billion years	1970-01-01 + ~292 billion years	0.000000001 seconds (1 nanosecond)
exFAT	1980-01-01 00:00:00	2107-12-31 23:59:59	0.01 seconds (10 milliseconds)
ext2, ext3	1901-12-14 20:45:52	2038-01-19 03:14:07	1 second
ext4	1901-12-14 20:45:52	2446-05-10 22:38:55	0.000000001 seconds (1 nanosecond)
FAT12, FAT16, FAT32	1980-01-01 00:00:00	2107-12-31 23:59:58	2 seconds
ISO 9660	0001-01-01	9999-12-31	0.01 seconds (10 milliseconds)
JFS	Unknown	Unknown	0.000000001 seconds (1 nanosecond)
MFS, HFS, HFS Plus	1904-01-01 00:00:00	2040-02-06 06:28:15	1 second
NTFS	1601-01-01	60056-05-28	0.0000001 seconds (100 nanoseconds)
ReiserFS	1901-12-14 20:45:52	2038-01-19	1 second
tux3	Unknown	Unknown	0.00390625 seconds (1/256th of a second)
UDF	0001-01-01	9999-12-31	0.000001 seconds (1 microsecond)
UFS1	1901-12-14 20:45:52	2038-01-19 03:14:07	Originally one second; 0.000000001 seconds (1 nanosecond) in 4.4BSD and 4.4BSD-derived systems.
UFS2	1970-01-01 - ~292 billion years	1970-01-01 + ~292 billion years	0.000000001 seconds (1 nanosecond)
XFS	1901-12-13	2486-07-02	0.000000001 seconds (1 nanosecond)

Notes

External links

(archived)
2018-03-04 at the Wayback Machine (April 23, 2006)