How can we search folders by size?
It's a simple question. We'd like to know which folders (not files) on our computer's hard drive consume more than ten gigabytes of disk space in total. This seemingly straightforward task can be surprisingly challenging with standard operating system tools, but critical for effective storage management.
We organize our files into folders, after all, so it makes sense to find large folders so that we can move, delete, or archive them. For example, Windows makes it easy to apply NTFS compression to folders in order to compress all the files they contain. So why work with individual files when you can work with entire directories? Managing storage at the folder level is significantly more efficient and aligns with how we naturally organize our digital information.
Right! So how do we start?
How About Windows File Explorer?
Answering this question using the tools built into Windows is going to be very tedious indeed. Directories (folders) in Windows simply do not have an inherent size metric – if you right-click a folder in Windows File Explorer and view its properties, the size metrics that appear (there's a separate field for size on disk) are being calculated on the fly. While you wait. This process is slow, and must be repeated for every directory of interest. For systems with thousands of folders, this manual approach becomes impractical and time-consuming.
And that's just looking at the directory properties individually. If you try to search for objects over a certain size in Windows File Explorer, it simply doesn't find folders at all. Only files. This limitation makes it virtually impossible to efficiently identify large directories using the built-in Windows tools, especially on systems with complex hierarchical folder structures or network drives.
At this point you may be wondering – why doesn't Windows provide a built-in size metric for folders? That would sure make it easy to search for large folders! The answer largely comes down to performance. Windows would need to monitor file system activity constantly (essentially in real-time) to provide accurate directory sizing statistics on demand. The performance implications of doing so simply outweigh the benefits for most use cases. Additionally, the complexities of handling permissions, junctions, symbolic links, and other special file system objects would further complicate any built-in implementation.
Introducing FolderSizes
FolderSizes is a free disk space analyzer software product for Windows. It provides a highly specialized Search tool that is capable of querying folders by size, file count, and more. Unlike Windows File Explorer, FolderSizes is designed specifically for storage analysis and management, with algorithms optimized for performance even on large file systems.
FolderSizes makes this possible by quickly calculating the size of directories during search execution, ensuring that results are always current and accurate. It performs this task using the FolderSizes file system analysis engine, which is exceptionally fast and efficient. The software utilizes multi-threading capabilities to process directory structures in parallel, resulting in significantly faster analysis compared to native Windows tools.
The FolderSizes Search tool can also search multiple local and network file system branches simultaneously. This capability is particularly valuable for enterprises with distributed storage or users with multiple external drives and network shares. The unified search approach eliminates the need to run separate analyses for each storage location.
Advanced Search Capabilities Beyond Simple Size
While searching for folders by size is our primary focus here, it's worth noting that FolderSizes offers numerous additional search parameters that can be combined with size criteria. You can search for folders based on:
- Creation, modification, or access dates - Identify old folders that haven't been used recently
- File counts - Find folders containing an excessive number of files
- Owner information - Locate folders belonging to specific users or groups
- Attributes - Search for folders with specific attributes like hidden, system, or compressed
- File types - Identify folders containing specific file extensions or types
These additional search parameters can be combined to create powerful, targeted queries that help you identify exactly the folders you need to manage.
Searching for Folders by Size
To search for folders by size in FolderSizes, simply follow these steps:
- Start FolderSizes and click the Search button in the main window ribbon bar.
- Select the Search Paths tab in the Search window, then click the New Path button to add one or more search paths. Note that you can search multiple local and network paths at once.
- Select the Search Rules tab in the Search window. Click the New Rule button and select New Folder Rule.
- In the Folder Rule Editor window, select the Size tab and specify the size of folders you'd like to find. You can set precise thresholds such as "greater than 10 GB" or use ranges like "between 1 GB and 5 GB".
- Click OK to save the rule, then click the Start toolbar button to start the search.
When the search completes, you'll be presented with a list of folders that meet your search criteria. You can then take action on these folders as needed, such as moving, deleting, or archiving them. The search results are presented in a sortable grid that allows you to quickly identify the largest folders and drill down into their contents for further investigation.
Pro Tip: Toggle on the Use allocated size during comparison switch in the Folder Rule Editor if you prefer to search by size on disk (e.g. allocated size). This is particularly useful when working with drives that utilize different cluster sizes or when comparing the actual storage impact of folders rather than their logical size. The difference between logical and allocated size can be significant, especially for folders containing many small files.
Real-world Applications of Folder Size Searching
The ability to search for folders by size has numerous practical applications in both personal and enterprise environments:
- Storage optimization - Quickly identify large folders that are candidates for archiving or deletion
- Migration planning - Determine which folders will fit on target storage devices during migrations
- Quota management - Find user folders exceeding allocated storage quotas
- Backup strategy development - Identify large folders that may require special backup handling
- Storage cost allocation - Determine which departments or projects are consuming the most storage
By leveraging FolderSizes' folder search capabilities, organizations can implement more effective storage management strategies and significantly reduce storage-related costs.
Automating Folder Size Monitoring
For ongoing storage management, FolderSizes offers powerful scheduling capabilities that allow you to automate folder size searches. You can configure searches to run periodically and have the results emailed to you or saved to a file. This proactive approach helps identify storage growth trends before they become critical issues.
Scheduled searches can be particularly valuable for:
- Monitoring the growth of important directories over time
- Identifying folders that have suddenly increased in size, potentially indicating problems
- Generating regular reports for storage management and capacity planning
- Tracking storage utilization trends across different departments or projects
Conclusion
FolderSizes is the Swiss Army Knife of disk space analysis tools. The FolderSizes Search tool is just one of many features that make it a must-have tool for system administrators, IT professionals, and power users. Its ability to efficiently search for folders by size addresses a critical limitation in Windows' built-in file management capabilities, enabling more effective storage management and optimization.
Whether you're trying to free up space on your personal computer, manage enterprise storage resources, or simply gain better visibility into how your disk space is being utilized, FolderSizes provides the tools you need to work effectively at the folder level – where most of our file organization actually happens.
Download the free trial today and experience how much easier storage management can be when you have the right tools at your disposal.