It may be time to move on from NTFS as Microsoft is quietly enabling Windows 11 ReFS support.

In 2011-12, when Microsoft launched Windows 8, the company also introduced a new file system called Resilient File System or ReFS. Compared to the New Technology File System or NTFS, ReFS promised greater flexibility, greater performance, such as on virtual machines (VMs), and higher data size support (up to 35PB vs. 256TB on NTFS), among other benefits. However, until now, the next-generation file system was limited to Windows Server. In fact, if you recall, Microsoft limited ReFS support to only professional and enterprise-oriented Windows 10 SKUs in 2017.

Fast forward to 2023 though, things may soon improve in terms of ReFS support on client OS systems. First spotted by Twitter user and Windows enthusiast Xeno, it looks like the Redmond firm is starting work on enabling ReFS features on Windows 11. While this feature is currently disabled on the latest Windows 11 Dev Channel build 25281, it could be. Activated using a special speed ID “42189933”.

Meanwhile, trying to install Windows 11 build 25281 without a feature ID causes Setup to abort with the error message:

Windows cannot be installed on this hard disk space. Windows installation is not supported for file systems on the current partition. [ReFS].

PhantomOcean3, another Twitter user who also likes to explore early Windows 11 features, notes that The setup went well for the most part, although they did encounter a Green Screen of Death (GSOD) once.

Source: Xeno (Twitter)