WinDirStat is a disk usage statistics viewer and cleanup tool for Microsoft Windows.
On start up, it reads the whole directory tree once and then presents it in three useful views:
- The directory list, which resembles the tree view of the Windows Explorer but is sorted by file/subtree size,
- The treemap, which shows the whole contents of the directory tree straight away,
- The extension list, which serves as a legend and shows statistics about the file types.
The treemap represents each file as a colored rectangle, the area of which is proportional to the file’s size. The rectangles are arranged in such a way, that directories again make up rectangles, which contain all their files and subdirectories. So their area is proportional to the size of the subtrees. The color of a rectangle indicates the type of the file, as shown in the extension list. The cushion shading additionally brings out the directory structure.
The program is great, but sometimes your space isn’t being consumed by large files, but by many smaller ones that could be duplicates, or at least very similar. That’s where an app such as Fast Duplicate File Finder comes in handy.
Most of my drives are taken up either with backups, videos or games, and I imagine most have a similar breakdown. Between the aforementioned programs, CCleaner and the low price of magnetic HDDs, I’m able to run a tight ship, but I’m interested to hear what you guys use.
And here is the app…
I find the treemap too confusing
You should try Directory Report
http://www.file-utilities.com
Thanks for the comment. I checked out DR and my opinion is that Directory Report is Windows only and simply prints a directory listing recursively with a number of attributes for each row (one of the attributes/columns is size). It totally lacks any kind of GUI display with similar advantages as WinDirStat. It is also free software with no trail versions.
Directory Report looks like the MS-Explorer but it always shows the folder’s size. When you open a folder it automatically shows all of its subfolders along with the folder’s size. No confusing GUI is needed since it shows the folder’s size in bytes. It also has a window which shows all files in descending size order. I prefer this simpler display than a bunch of colored squares.