Finding Large Files

Written by Eric Wyatt (last updated October 25, 2021)

1

Have you noticed that your hard drive is running out of storage space or, perhaps, you've received a notice that you are about to run out of available space? Many times, this can be attributed to large files that, alone, take up vast amounts of hard drive space that we either forgot was on our machine or we never realized it was there to begin with. Fortunately, there is a simple way to look for potential storage hogs, and then you can decide what to do with them.

Using File Explorer, navigate to a specific folder, such as your downloads folder, where you might find large files. Then, using the search bar at the top-right of a File Explorer Window, enter one of the following search labels:

  • size:gigantic Ð This returns files over 4GB in size.
  • size:huge Ð This returns files between 1GB to 4GB in size.
  • size:large Ð This returns files between 128MB to 1 GB in size.
  • size:medium Ð This returns files between 1MB to 128MB in size.

When you search, Windows looks not only in the folder to which you navigated, but also in any subfolders within that folder. If you want to search for files other than through the predefined labels, you can also use specific sizes. For example, say you want to look for files larger than 6GB. In that case you would enter (without quotes) "size: >6GB". This causes Windows to display only files over the 6GB threshold you specified. It is important to note that if you search your entire machine (by starting the search in the root directory), the search may take a few moments to list items that fit the size parameters you entered.

Once you have found larger files, you can look at them and see if they still need to be on your computer. If not, you can delete them or store them on a flash drive or other external media.

 This tip (11885) applies to Windows 10 and 11.

Author Bio

Eric Wyatt

Eric Wyatt is a swell guy (or so his friends tell him). He is a formally trained designer and branding expert, bringing a wide range of skills to his Tips.Net articles. ...

MORE FROM ERIC

Using the Windows 10 Touch Keyboard

If you don't have access to a physical keyboard and still need to enter information you can use the Touch Keyboard found ...

Discover More

Notes that Stick Around

Throughout your day it can be necessary to quickly write things down to quickly remember later. Unfortunately, a Post-It ...

Discover More

News and Interest Widget in the Taskbar

A new Windows feature allows for quick access to news and weather directly from the Taskbar. See how to turn this feature ...

Discover More
More WindowsTips

Logging Robocopy Operations

If you schedule Robocopy operations, you may want to maintain log files of what happened. In this case, getting familiar ...

Discover More

Clearing Items from the Recently Used Documents List

You may wish to clear your Recently Used Documents list or even have them not remembered in the first place. How you ...

Discover More

Renaming Multiple Files at the Same Time

It's possible to rename multiple files at the same time, but the new names of the files may leave a bit to be desired. ...

Discover More
Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is 5 - 0?

2021-10-25 11:31:32

John Zelno

I use a free (for personal use) tool called WizTree. You can get it here: https://diskanalyzer.com/. It provides a fast visual of your hard drive usage, so you can quickly and easily see where your hard drive space is being used up, and you can delete files to free up space.


Newest Tips