Microsoft is working on a new ‘ReFS’ file system for Windows 11

Microsoft going to bring a new file system “ReFS” to replace NTFS on some devices. Mostly, Windows computers are preformatted with NTFS, including storage drives, external hard drives, and USB sticks.

In 1993, Microsft introduced the NT File System that can be used on systems with licenses. NTFS is the default file system for Windows 11, Windows 10, and older. It is for storing and organizing files on a hard disk or external hard drive.

Microsoft’s new file system “ReFS” is significantly better in data availability and scalability

As per Microsoft’s documentation, the Resilient File System is best in many ways with storage and future innovation. This new file system supports up to 35 petabytes while NTFS supports a maximum of 256 terabytes. Considering the conversion factor there is a vast difference, single petabyte equals 1024 terabytes.

The Resilient File System (ReFS) is Microsoft’s newest file system, designed to maximize data availability, scale efficiently to large data sets across diverse workloads, and provide data integrity with resiliency to corruption. It seeks to address an expanding set of storage scenarios and establish a foundation for future innovations.

To check the file system, open “This PC” > right-click on any drive > click on properties > there will be ‘NTFS’ next to the file system.

Some Windows 11 Enterprise and Business computers might ship with a ReFS as the default file system so enterprises and professionals can take several advantages of ReFS features like converting expensive physical file copy operations to quick logical ones, improving performance while reducing I/O, mirror-accelerated parity, file-level snapshots, and better security.

However, the new file system may or may not be as good as it appears on paper. Currently, it doesn’t have the features that NTFS supports, like system compression, encryption support, support for disk quotas, and removable media, which makes it a deal breaker for most PC consumers.

Microsoft is still working on ReFS support for Windows 11 and so it won’t be ready anytime soon. But we can expect to see ReFS as the default file system on some new hardware by the end of 2023.