ext4
Technology & Computing abbreviation · Computer
| Stands for | Fourth extended file system |
|---|---|
| Categories | Technology & Computing |
ext4 stands for Fourth extended file system, a computer abbreviation.
Default file system on many Linux distributions, including Debian and Ubuntu, offering journaling, extents and support for volumes up to 1 EiB and files up to 16 TiB. It is regarded as a mature, conservative choice for system and data drives.
Example: The installer formats the root partition as ext4 unless you choose Btrfs.
Usage notes
ext4 became stable in Linux kernel 2.6.28 in 2008, building on ext2 (1993) and ext3 (2001). It is written in lowercase. Fedora switched its default to Btrfs in 2020 and Red Hat Enterprise Linux uses XFS, so ext4 is common but not universal. Android phones used it for years before many moved to F2FS.
Related abbreviations
More computer abbreviations
- DISM – Deployment Image Servicing and Management
- DOS – Disk operating system
- DP – Data processing
- EBCDIC – Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code
- Esc – Escape key
- exFAT – Extended File Allocation Table
- FAT – File Allocation Table
- FAT32 – File Allocation Table, 32-bit
- Fn – Function key (modifier)
- GIGO – Garbage in, garbage out
- GPO – Group Policy Object
- GPT – GUID Partition Table