4 best disk capacity analysis tools on Windows 10

When the drive (s) are full, it is a good time to perform a system cleanup. But it's easier said than done. Sure, you can use Windows' Disk Cleanup utility and this tool can help relieve a few gigabytes of disk space. But what if you need to release several hundred gigabytes?

A disk space analyzer provides an intuitive view of the size of each folder, making it easy to detect which components are consuming a lot of disk space and allow you to delete things you don't need. set.

There are many utilities to do this and basically, the process is similar. However, because visual analysis is the most important difference between these tools, the visual part will play a key role in helping you decide which tool to choose.Join TipsMake.com to learn some of the best disk space analysis tools for Windows 10 through the following article!

1. SpaceSniffer

This program has a very simple interface and intuitive style. The images provided by SpaceSniffer are quite clear, so you can easily read through the folder name.

Another advantage is that SpaceSniffer is available in a portable version. You can download this portable application and run it, without having to install it on the system. You can also put this portable version on USB, take it with you and run on any computer you use.

In the top menu bar, you can increase or decrease the level of detail when analyzing the disk capacity. However, you can also do this for each individual element, instead of applying it to all components. For example, with a few clicks of the "steamapp", as shown in the image above, you can find out which folders are contained in it.

You can also double-click the folder containing too many elements. This will zoom into that folder, making it take up the entire main window. Then, the graphic elements will be larger, the text label will be sparse, making everything easier to read.

Download link: http://www.uderzo.it/main_products/space_sniffer/

2. WinDirStat

You may prefer the tree view instead of the stacking tile view as in the previous gadget. WinDirStat combines both of these views together and creates an analysis report like the following image.

When you click on one of the favorite graphic view boxes below, you will automatically be taken to the corresponding folder in the tree view. Because the tree view automatically arranges the largest and smallest folders, you can easily browse them until you find large folders and files that are no longer needed.

A useful feature, found in the upper right corner of the main window. For example, if you are looking for MP3 files, you can click on the extension in that list. After that, all files with such extension will be highlighted in the stacked tile view at the bottom. Perhaps because of this feature, the program takes a bit more time to scan the original drives. In this regard, SpaceSniffer has been improved to perform significantly faster. WinDirStat does not have a portable version.

Refer to the article: Checking and monitoring hard drive capacity with WinDirStat for details on how to do it.

3. HDGraph

HDGraph is a less common disk space analysis tool than the above two options. HDGraph analyzes folders as follows:

Depending on how you think and visualize everything, this type of analysis can draw a clearer picture or make things more confusing to you.

You will not find many features in HDGraph. If you are a minimalist person, you will feel comfortable when HDGraph removes everything that is messy and complicated. However, if you need more features, you should use one of the first two programs. The functions of HDGraph can be summarized in a few words. This tool draws folders in concentric circles. You can right-click and select another folder to center the chart. You can change the scanning level, see the folder properties and the size of the components in it or open File Explorer in a folder.

Like the first program on this list, you can find the portable version of the HDGraph application.

4. Windows Storage Settings

Windows own disk space analysis tool has grown to the point of being mentioned in this list. To open Windows Storage Settings, press the Win key , enter 'storage' and open the 'Storage settings' application. After selecting the desired drive, you will see a window that looks like the following image:

Depending on the amount of disk usage you analyze, you can now take the appropriate actions from within this application. If you are viewing temporary files, you can clean up what you do not need, such as old Windows updates, trash, temporary program files, error logs, etc. In 'System & reserved', You can tweak the use of System Restore, which often takes up quite a bit of space on a hard drive or SSD.

This utility provides you with an effective way to manage disk space, used by the operating system or things that integrate with it. However you cannot analyze the disk space used by random folders you have on your drive.

Besides, you can install one of the first 3 applications and use them together with the built-in Windows tool if desired.