Filelight: Program to Manage the Hard Disk Space

The hard drive of our computer is usually full of all kinds of files, both personal and work, that can run out of storage. If necessary, it may be interesting to have an application with which we can graphically view all the space occupied in the file system. To carry out this work, we can use a tool like Filelight which we are going to talk about next.

Usually when we are running out of space on our hard drive, we choose to use some hard drive cleaning application. These tools help us to delete already downloaded updates, delete browser data or delete all unnecessary system files. On the other hand, we are going to see how we can see graphically all the content on our hard drive, to help us decide better which files we want to keep and which we can do without.

Filelight: Program to Manage the Hard Disk Space

What is Filelight and what is it for?

Filelight is a simple tool, developed for both Windows and Linux, that will allow us to visually show all the file system occupation of our hard drive at a glance. All of this is represented by graphical averages, using the file system data, as a set of concentric segmented rings.

Thanks to these graphics, it will be possible that we can use this application to locate access points of the disk and then manipulate these areas using a file manager.

Main features

  • Displays configurable color schemes.
  • Navigating the file system with the mouse.
  • Provides information about files and directories as we scroll through them.
  • Files and directories can be copied or deleted directly from the context menu.

Know how your hard drive is managed

Once the application is executed, we will find its home screen completely in Spanish. Here it will show us a pie chart for each of our hard drives and partitions. In it, the part that appears colored in the circular ring shows us the space used, while the white areas indicate the free storage space that we have left in each unit.

Filelight menú principal

Scan Hard Drive

Simply mouse over the colors to see all the storage information expressed in Gigabytes. If we select one of the graphics, the program will start to perform a scan of the entire selected unit. During the process, it will show us a circular animation that will serve as an indicator of all progress. The time it takes to complete the whole process will depend on both the power of our computer and the capacity of the hard disk and the amount of space used.

Filelight analizando disco duro

If we want to cancel the scanning process, it will be as simple as pressing the “Stop” button on the toolbar. In case we don’t want to scan the entire hard drive in its entirety, we can also scan the storage space used by a folder, along with its subfolders. To do this we will use the “Explore” button on the toolbar or from the menu option. Another way to start running the scan is by using the address bar at the top of the screen.

Scan result

Once the scan is finished, the program will show us a pie chart with different colors. Here we will find the map with all the files , each color representing several general system folders such as Windows, Program Files and Program Files (x86). While in the case of the gray color it represents the files.

Filelight resultado de la exploración

If we pass the mouse cursor through the different sections of the graph , it will take care of showing us the name of the folder it represents, as well as the total size occupied by that directory on the hard disk. If we move the mouse cursor from a folder to the ends it will show us the different details about the different subfolders that make it up. In this way we can quickly discover which are the most storage occupying the system.

Filelight nombre de la carpeta y tamaño

In case we select any folder or subfolder we will be able to see its own graph and navigate between the different components . We can also use the “Expand” and “Reduce” options within the “View” menu to increase or decrease the view of the elements. In addition, it has an option of “Rescan”. This option can be useful for us when we move an element to a different directory and we want to see the new results of the current storage space.

Filelight subcarpetas

Download Filelight

Filelight is free and open source software that is available for Windows and Linux operating systems under the GNU General Public License (GPL) and that we can download from its website . If we choose to download for Windows, it will be done from the Microsoft Store. The latest version available is 19.08 . During the installation process, no additional third-party software will try to sneak in to us, this being produced cleanly and quickly. The size of the application once installed is approximately 180 MB and it can be anchored both in the taskbar and in the Start menu.

Alternatives to Filelight

If we need an application with which to view all the space used on our hard drive, we propose a couple of alternatives to Filelight that you can try:

SpaceSniffer

This application will allow us to visualize in real time all the space occupied on our hard drive. We can choose both the disk and the path to scan. As the disk is analyzed, it will show us the results through graphics that we can enlarge to show all the content, allowing us to modify the color palette and the effects. We can download SpaceSniffer from its website .

WizTree

It is a tool designed to analyze and scan all the space on our hard drive, showing all the files and folders that make it up and indicating which ones take up the most space. This information will allow us to locate and delete any file that is useless on our hard drive and that may take up too much space. If we want to download WizTree we can do it from its official website .