Listing the largest files on disk in Windows

Question

I'm after a list of the largest files on a windows box, i.e. Not just in one folder, but anywhere on the disk. Is there any easy way of getting this?

score 21 · Answer 1 · answered May 13 '09 at 13:06

21

Check out this app: WinDirStat

This will show you graphically as well as a hierarchy/tree map. This software is free and open source (GPL) and works really well.

answered May 13 '09 at 13:06

Andy May

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+10! windirstat is awesome – hasen May 13 '09 at 13:18
I have always used Sequoia View, but just installed WinDirStat to take a look at it. Very nice. I think Sequoia View lays out the Tree Map a little better and is more responsive. I do like WinDirStat's ability to select a file type and see it highlighted across the entire drive. – Keith Sirmons May 13 '09 at 14:50
@Keith Sirmons - Do you know if Sequoia is a branch of WinDirStat? They look very similar and since WinDirStat is open source this is very possible. – Andy May May 13 '09 at 15:21
Sequoia View's V1.1 original publish date is 11/9/2000. It was about 5 years ahead of WinDirStat's V1.1.2 release on 7/16/2005. – Keith Sirmons May 13 '09 at 15:40

score 13 · Answer 2 · edited Sep 17 '18 at 10:42

13

Install PowerShell. Then run this:

dir c:\ -recurse -erroraction silentlycontinue | sort length -descending | select -first 20

That'll give you back the top 20 largest files on C:.

edited Sep 17 '18 at 10:42

Nae

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answered May 13 '09 at 13:17

aharden

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incredibly useful – Malky.Kid Jul 27 '17 at 01:54
This eats up all the memory and throws an OutOfMemoryException. – pkr Sep 10 '18 at 14:40
Great out-of-the-box solution, thanks for posting. – fusion27 Jul 11 '19 at 14:03

score 3 · Answer 3 · edited Sep 17 '18 at 10:42

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If you are doing this regularly, you might look at tools like TreeSize Pro or SizeExplorer (although the latter seems to nob be as recent).

edited Sep 17 '18 at 10:42

Nae

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answered May 13 '09 at 13:06

Marc Gravell

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@Marc-AndreR., Do you mean TreeSize or do you mean SizeExplorer? – Pacerier Mar 17 '15 at 19:59
@Pacerier : TreeSize is definitely more recent and maintain than SizeExplorer or WinDirStat. That said, both does the job but I do have a preference for TreeSize. Hope this help. – Marc-Andre R. Mar 18 '15 at 10:52

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered May 13 '09 at 13:06

3

Do a windows search on you windows drive with "*" joker that mean all file, and specify a minimum size let's say of 40mb, than you'll have every file on you system drive that are larger than 40mb.

Hope this help.

answered May 13 '09 at 13:06

Marc-Andre R.

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Keith Sirmons · Answer 5 · 2017-09-20T17:25:32.107

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Install Sequoia View

It will visually show you your large files and large directories. It makes finding where all your space disappeared very easy.

Free and < 1 Mb in size.

enter image description here

edited Sep 20 '17 at 17:25

answered May 13 '09 at 14:28

Keith Sirmons

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Richard · Answer 6 · 2018-09-17T09:14:22.493

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PowerShell (extending answer 7768) across multiple drives:

 "c","e","f" | dir -path {"$($_):\"} -rec -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | sort -desc Length | select -first 20 | ft FullName

edited Sep 17 '18 at 09:14

answered May 13 '09 at 14:27

Richard

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Are you certain that this currently works? – Nae Sep 17 '18 at 07:29
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@Nae Over nine years ago: I can't recall. But the new version definitely does – Richard Sep 17 '18 at 09:15
Yes it does seem to be working now. Thanks for the update! – Nae Sep 17 '18 at 09:29

score 1 · Answer 7 · answered May 15 '19 at 16:32

1

A very simple way to do this is to type the following into the search box in Windows Explorer:

* size:gigantic or if you are after slightly smaller files go for * size:huge.

answered May 15 '19 at 16:32

Mike Poole

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score 0 · Answer 8 · answered Jun 17 '13 at 12:59

0

Yes and it is free: Folder Size
There is a small tutorial here: How to List Largest Files & Largest Folders

answered Jun 17 '13 at 12:59

Jack

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score 0 · Answer 9 · answered May 13 '09 at 15:05

My favorite is Disk Scanner by Steffen Gerlach:

http://www.steffengerlach.de/freeware/

Standalone freeware, 157K. Takes a little time to build the report, but the circular graphic is very intuitive and informative.

Listing the largest files on disk in Windows

9 Answers9