DiskUsage is a new Windows 10 tool for analyzing your drives

What is DiskUsage tool in Windows 10 and how to use it.

Microsoft has added a new tool, DiskUsage (diskusage.exe) to Windows 10. It is a console app that allows performing a wide range of analysis to show you advanced details for storage devices in your computer.

If you've run out of disk space or wanted to find the largest file or directory on your disk, then you know that Windows doesn't offer anything useful for disk analytics. This has changed.

DiskUsage tool in Windows 10

The new DiskUsage app is located in the C:\Windows\System32 folder, so it is available from any open command prompt and PowerShell window. The tool was first available in Windows 10 build 21277, and Insider Preview release that is known for having plenty of hidden features and options, including new window animations.

The app summarizes disk usage recursively for the given directory. Here's how it works.

How to use the DiskUsage tool in Windows 10

1. Open a new command prompt as Administrator.
2. Type diskusage /minFileSize=2147483648 /h c:\windows. This will show you folders larger than 2GB in the Windows folder.
3. Type diskusage /?, and hit the Enter key. You will get the full reference for supported options.

You are done.

Note: The /h option shows the size values using a human-readable format rounded to gigabytes, megabytes, etc.

Note: If you run DiskUsage without any parameters, it will return information for files in the current folder. By default, the elevated command prompt opens to the C:\Windows\System32 folder, so the app will process files and folders stored in the system32 directory, and will also display some details on the disk space they use.

Here are the options DiskUsage supports.

DiskUsage - Disk Usage

Description: Summarize disk usage recursively for the given directory.
Usage      : diskusage [Options] [Directory]
Options    :
    /a, /systemAndReserve    displays size for system files and reserved space
    /c, /csv                 displays in csv format
    /d, /maxDepth=N          displays directory information only if it is N or
                             fewer levels below command line argument
    /e, /minFileSize=SIZE    displays directory information only if its FileSize
                             is greater or equal than SIZE
    /f, /minSizeOnDisk=SIZE  displays directory information only if its SizeOnDisk
                             is greater or equal than SIZE
    /g, /displayFlag=FLAG    specifies the flags value to determin which column(s) to display
                             column          value    description
                             SizeOnDisk      0x001    the on disk size
                             FileSize        0x002    the end of file size
                             SizePerDir      0x004    sum of SizeOnDisk for top level child
                             Files           0x008    number of child files
                             ChildDirs       0x010    number of child directories
                             FilesPerDir     0x020    number of top level child files
                             DirsPerDir      0x040    number of top level child directories
                             CreationTime    0x080    file creation timestamp
                             LastAccessTime  0x100    file last access timestamp
                             LastWriteTime   0x200    file last write timestamp
                             Attributes      0x400    file attributes
    /h, /humanReadable       displays size in human readable format
    /i, /iniFile=FILE        takes all the parameters from an INI file.
                             NOTE: SCENARIO name must be speificed via /j (/scenario)
    /j, /secnario=SCENARIO   specifies the scenario name for the INI file
    /l, /allLinks            count all hardlinks separately (By default, files with multiple
                             hardlinks are counted only once towards the first link name)
    /m, /multipleName        count only files with more than one link names
    /n, /nameFilter=FILTER   count only files whose name matches the name filter
    /p, /preferredPath=PATH  count files with multiple link names towards the first link that's
                             under PATH if it exists
                             NOTE: This options must not be specified togerther
                             with /l (/allLinks)
    /q, /virtual             recurse into virtual directories
    /r, /skipReparse         skip recursing into reparse directories
    /s, /skipResurse         skip recursing into child directories when calculating sizes
    /t, /TopDirectory=N      displays Top N directories by SizeOnDisk in descending order
    /u, /TopFile=N           displays Top N files by SizeOnDisk in descending order
    /v, /verbose             displays verbose error information
    /x, /clearDefault        do not display the default selected columns

The app supports a configuration files than define default command line arguments. The user can change the output formatting, and apply file name filters.

The tool is a work in progress. It is unfinished, so some of its options doesn't do what they should. It order to see it in action, you need to install Windows 10 Build 21277 (via MSFTNEXT).

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