Displaying the Number of Files or Folders within a Folder

Written by Barry Dysert (last updated August 20, 2018)

1

Both Windows Explorer (Windows 7) and File Explorer (Windows 8 and 10) are handy utilities that you can use to display the number of files or folders within a folder. Navigate to the folder you're curious about and ensure that no file or folder is selected in the details pane. In the lower left corner of the status area, the total number of items in the current folder is displayed. For example, the following figure shows that there are 13 items in my August Projects folder. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. File Explorer window showing 13 items in the August Projects folder.

Note that these 13 items include both folders and files. Since I have organized the layout of the details pane such that folders appear at the top of the pane, I can easily determine how many folders there are and how many files there are. One way to do this is by selecting the top folder, holding the Shift key, and then selecting the bottom folder. This results in the number 2 being displayed in the status area, indicating that there are 2 folders selected in the August Projects folder. (See Figure 2.)

Figure 2. File Explorer window showing 2 folders selected in the August Projects folder.

Obviously, then, the number of files in August Projects would be 13 minus 2, or 11. If there were a large number of items in the folder, you could apply the same technique, but select the files instead of the folders. This would then result in the number of files being displayed in the status area instead of the number of folders. (And it would save you from having to perform the subtraction yourself.)

 This tip (12389) applies to Windows 7, 8, and 10.

Author Bio

Barry Dysert

Barry has been a computer professional for over 35 years, working in different positions such as technical team leader, project manager, and software developer. He is currently a software engineer with an emphasis on developing custom applications under Microsoft Windows. When not working with Windows or writing Tips, Barry is an amateur writer. His first non-fiction book is titled "A Chronological Commentary of Revelation." ...

MORE FROM BARRY

How to Choose between 32- and 64-bit Windows

Windows currently comes in two flavors: 32-bit and 64-bit. While there are typically some performance advantages ...

Discover More

Displaying the Command Prompt Window

You may have the need to perform repetitive operations or group several commands together to run as a batch. In such ...

Discover More

Using Windows Easy Transfer

If you ever want to copy user accounts, documents, pictures, etc., from one computer to another, you'll find that Windows ...

Discover More
More WindowsTips

Creating a CD/DVD Archive

CDs and DVDs are good for creating archives of files you want to keep over the long term. They are a great way to back up ...

Discover More

Working with Compressed Files and Folders via Zip

Windows 10 provides multiple ways to work with compressed files and folders. One great way is to use the Zip utility, ...

Discover More

Displaying Details about an Audio File

Audio files have additional attributes that other files don't have. This tip describes how you can display these ...

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 six more than 9?

2018-08-20 11:44:15

Charles Ruffin

Another way to do this is to single click (select) on the folder. THen Right-click and select properties. The folder properties list the total number of files contained in the folders and sub-folders as well as the total number of sub-folders under the target folder. This gives me the information I want to know before copying to another disk or folder.


Newest Tips