Created Win-11 Recovery Disk (USB) - Files Missing

LGLDSR73-6492 1,520 Reputation points
2025-09-25T15:55:45.0166667+00:00

I created the Recovery USB (Win-11 Home) but I noticed that while many directories are populated, these are empty:

Sources --> AutoApply --> CustomizationFiles EMPTY

EFI --> Microsoft --> Recovery EMPTY

Why are there no files in the above two directories?

The Recovery Disk (USB) process also formatted the USB Flash Drive (32GB) as FAT32. I would have thought either exFAT or NTFS but perhaps this is due to FAT32 being more universally accepted by more systems.

Thank you,

LGLDSR73

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Recovery and backup
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Answer accepted by question author
IGYQ 22,340 Reputation points Independent Advisor
2025-09-25T16:48:48.6866667+00:00

Hi!

Welcome to Microsoft Q&A forum.

Regarding your first question, The folders exists to hold OEM customizations (branding, drivers, preinstalled software, etc.). On a consumer PC(which is your PC) where you create the recovery media yourself, Windows doesn’t put anything there, because there are no OEM customizations to apply.

Second question, FAT32 is required for UEFI boot (most modern PCs use UEFI instead of Legacy BIOS) and FAT32 is used intentionally to ensure maximum boot compatibility.

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