How to Check a Folder’s Storage Usage in Windows 11

You may find out which folders on your PC use the most drive space by looking at a folder’s storage utilization. By removing applications and eliminating (or even compressing) files from your largest folders, you can shrink them once you’ve determined which ones are taking up the most space.

You can examine the data sizes of folders in Windows 11 in a few different ways. File Explorer, the Command Prompt, the Settings app, and a variety of third-party programs all allow you to view folder size information. These are the three ways in Windows 11 to check folder storage use.

How to Check a Folder’s Storage Usage in Windows 11

How to Use File Explorer to Check Folder Sizes

Windows 11’s folder management and navigation app is called File Explorer. The detail view in Explorer displays file sizes but not folder storage use. However, File Explorer still allows you to inspect the properties windows of each folder to determine its size:

Step 1: Launch the File Explorer in Windows 11.

Step 2: To verify a folder’s size, right-click it and choose Properties.

Step 3: Then look at the size information under the General tab.

Step 4: The properties box for the folder can be closed by clicking OK.

Note: Viewing the tooltip of a folder in File Explorer is another approach to determine its size. For a tooltip to appear, move the mouse over a folder and hold it there for a few seconds.

How to Use Settings to Check a Folder’s Size

A restricted overview of folder sizes is available in the Storage section of Settings. Although it doesn’t display all directories, you can examine the storage utilization of specific folders there. With settings similar to these, you may check the storage utilization of some folders:

Step 1: Right-click the Start taskbar icon and choose the shortcut for that app from the Power User menu to open Settings.

Step 2: Choose the Storage option from the System menu to check drive space details.

Step 3: Select Show more categories from the navigation menu for temporary files.

Step 4: The storage usage list below allows you to access size information for the user folders for Pictures, Documents, Music, and Videos.

Step 5: To get size information for non-categorized folders, choose Other.

How to Use the Command Prompt to Determine a Folder’s Size

You can also view folder size information by running a brief directory command at the Command Prompt. The available drive space and the file size of a folder are both displayed by that command. Here’s how to measure the size of a directory in the Command Prompt.

Step 1: Press The Windows + S to open the search box and type CMD.

Step 2: The Command Prompt app will appear among the search results.

Step 3: Click on Run As Administrator to open the Command Prompt in elevated mode.

Step 4: Type the address of the folder you wish to find the size for. The command would look something like this:

cd\folder name\subfolder name\subfolder name\subfolder

Step 5: Then type dir/s followed by the Enter key. You have to be in the folder through the command prompt, and then you can only find the size.

Step 6: This command’s final output will show the folder’s total size after traversing every subdirectory. The folder’s total size is displayed in bytes in the first total files figure. If the folder size is in the gigabytes range, that number may be 10 or even 11 numbers long.

Bonus Feature: Use Advanced PC Cleanup To Remove Old Files & Folders

When you run out of storage space on your hard disk, you’ll find out the size of your files and folders. A third-party tool helps you remove unwanted, temporary, and redundant files from your PC and save valuable storage space. One such tool, Advanced PC Cleanup, makes cleaning your PC simpler. With a few clicks, delete unnecessary programs and files, protect your computer from viruses, and delete the internet data saved with personal information.

The Final Word On How to Check a Folder’s Storage Usage in Windows 11

So that’s how you can determine which folders on your Windows 11 computer use the most storage space. You’ll have a better notion of which ones you need to erase user files from after doing this.

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