In general, on the hard drive of our computer we tend to store all kinds of content, both for work and personal use. In this way, it is common for us to have hundreds of files, documents, photos, videos and all kinds of applications and games. Despite the fact that we have a large capacity hard drive, it is likely that, without realizing it, we are filling it more than necessary and we do not know exactly what may be causing it.
If we want to know for sure how much each item or folder on our hard drive occupies, we would have to go one by one manually, since if we enter from Windows Explorer we will not be able to see at a glance how much each file or folder occupies. This means that doing it manually can be completely tedious, impractical and that would take us a great deal of time.
Therefore, to carry out this work we can use hard disk analyzers . They are programs that are responsible for analyzing all the data that we have stored on our hard drive. Once analyzed, they show us through graphs which files or folders are taking up more space, so that we can know where we were losing that capacity that we thought was free.
Thus, to know the storage status of our hard drive we can use these tools, so today we are going to see which are the best programs with which to analyze the space occupied on our hard drive.
Analyze the occupied space of the hard disk with these programs
Storage sensor in Windows 10, the most comfortable option
Windows 10 incorporates its own Storage Sensor. We can access it from the “Configuration2” menu, in the “System” and “Storage” sections. With this tool we can see a summary of the occupied space on our computer’s hard drive . By clicking on any of the elements we can see what type of files and folders occupy the most space. With it we can customize the way we want to save space. We can automatically delete the contents of the recycle bin, temporary files from downloads or make adjustments to the periodicity of The deleted ones It is not that it is a visually attractive application or the most practical, but it comes installed by default, so, if we do not want to install any additional software, it is a good option to try.
WizTree, effectively and visually visualize all storage
This is a program whose objective is to show us in a more effective and visual way, the contents of our disk drives, to check first-hand which files take up more space. This tool is responsible for assigning a color code to each element so that we can identify them more quickly. It also offers us different occupancy percentages for each of the detected file extensions, so that we can know how much storage we have occupied in photos, videos, etc. In addition, the program will take care of always placing the folders that occupy the most space at the top of the lists.
WizTree is a program that has both an installation and portable version and that we can download for free from its website.
TreeSize, visualize and organize the disk elements
Another application with which to analyze the state of occupation of the hard disk is TreeSize, which is characterized by being completely free for personal use. With it, we can decide how we want to see the data saved on the hard drive , giving us to choose different options for it. For example, we can see the elements based on the space they occupy, their size or the number of files, having a large number of filters that we can configure to our liking. It has both an installable and portable version , so we can analyze any hard drive anywhere without having to have an Internet connection. Its operation may be a bit slow, but everything will depend on the number of files we have to analyze.
If we want to use TreeSize to analyze which folders are filling our hard drive, we can download it for free fromthis link.
DiskSavvy, with multi-panel design for better viewing
This space analyzer is capable of analyzing disks, network shares, NAS devices, and enterprise storage systems. It has the ability to classify files and perform multiple disk usage analysis . In this way we get a generalized analysis of how we are using the disk storage, being able to save reports and perform file management operations (move, copy, compress and delete files and folders). If a design with several panels in which different elements are located, it will allow us to see all the information in a single window and instantly.
DiskSavvy is a free program for personal use, compatible with all versions of Windows and with a good update policy from its developers. We can download it from its official website .
WinDirStat, colorful interface to differentiate file extensions
Another free program that we can use is WinDirStat. This program provides us with a very colorful interface with a mix between a directory tree and a density box, where each color represents an extension of each file . In this way, we can see in a much more graphic way, how our space is being used and filled. It has the ability to quickly find how much space we are occupying depending on the type of file in question. In this way, we can almost instantly find all the space dedicated to music, video or photo files.
WinDirStat is a completely free application that we can download directly from its website .
SpaceSniffer, visualize data in table diagrams
We are facing a well-known application to analyze the occupied space of our hard disk. On this occasion, we are not facing a program that bets on the directory tree mode, but uses a table scheme with which to graphically see how the occupied space is distributed. It has the functionality to drag & drop files to move them easily, as well as make a customizable scheme where you can see and understand the data more easily and drill down between the directories to check which files are the ones that take up the most space. In addition, it is a portable application, so we can carry it on a pendrive and run it on any computer without the need for installation.
We can download SpaceSniffer for free from the developer’s website .
RidNacs, simplicity and efficiency at the service of the user
This is a tool to analyze disk space, whose main characteristic is simplicity. It is capable of scanning hard drives, network drives or virtual folders. Its interface is similar to that of a file manager and is displayed in the form of a tree where you can see the folders and files along with their size and the percentage they occupy over the total storage. Despite its simplicity, there will be some advanced options that will allow us, for example, to delete any program to free up space. All scan results can be exported in different formats (XML, HTML, CSV, TXT). Also, it consumes very little system resources.
RidNacs is a free program compatible with Windows from XP to Windows 10, which we can download from its website.
Fidelight, analyze the space using colored pie charts
This hard disk space analyzer is capable of reading both local, remote or removable disks, and we will be able to see all the information regarding our and folders while we scroll through its interface. This tool shows us the space occupied on the disk in the form of a colored pie chart . By selecting each fragment, we can see which folder or file it represents. Files and directories can be copied or deleted directly from the context menu, without the need to exit the application. In addition, it has a good update policy, since its latest version corresponds to November 2020.
Fidelight is a free program that we can download from this link .
Folder Size Explorer, similar to Windows Explorer with more options
As we can get used to the idea by its name, we are facing an application that has an aspect very similar to Windows Explorer, but also has more complete options that will help us to know all the space that files and folders occupy to view them in a single window. We can see all the contents of the disk in a tree-shaped diagram, and we can save any report in CSV format to be able to view it in applications such as Excel or Notepad
Folder Size Explorer is a free application, compatible with most versions for Windows, that we can download from its website .
