FAT32 is a filesystem which was introduced in Windows 95 as an extension of the FAT family of filesystems, which date from the late 70s. FAT32 utilizes a 32-bit file allocation table (from which the designation FAT comes), which, like MBR, brought about a maximum volume size of 2 TB (2³² sectors at 512 bytes each), and a maximum file size of 2³² - 1 bytes, or 1 byte less than 4 GB. 

FAT32 still uses the 8.3 filename format, which was used in earlier FAT systems (that is, FAT8, 12, and 16). This allows it to reuse a lot of the code, and have backward compatibility with these formats. In the 8.3 filename, the name is limited to eight characters, plus a file extension of three characters. This is obviously restrictive, so FAT32 also uses the long file name (LFN) extension, which stores both the 8.3 filename (for compatibility) and the full filename. This is limited to a 260-byte path (including the file extension), although the convention is for a file path to be no greater than 80 characters in order to fit on a single line of a command-line interface (CLI). FAT32 sets a maximum directory depth of 60 levels, which is fine for most common home usage, but can be a problem in server-based systems.

FAT32 is a very common standard filesystem format for compatibility. FAT32 is supported by Windows, macOS, and Linux, as well as many other devices such as TVs, games consoles, and digital cameras. The bulk of USB flash drives are shipped formatted as FAT32 in order to work straight out of the packet.