Get-FolderSizes¶

Scans one or more drives and returns detailed disk usage information including folder sizes, file types, cleanup suggestions, and optionally duplicate files.

Syntax¶

Get-FolderSizes [-DriveLetter] <String> [-MaxDepth <Int32>] [-Top <Int32>]
    [-FolderSize] [-FileSize] [-VerboseOutput] [-FindDuplicates] [-MinDuplicateSize <Int64>]

Get-FolderSizes -AllDrives [-ExcludeDrives <String[]>] [-MaxDepth <Int32>] [-Top <Int32>]
    [-FolderSize] [-FileSize] [-VerboseOutput] [-FindDuplicates] [-MinDuplicateSize <Int64>]

Parameters¶

Parameter	Type	Default	Range	Description
DriveLetter	String	-	-	Drive letter to scan (e.g., "C"). Required unless `-AllDrives` is specified.
AllDrives	Switch	`$false`	-	Scan all fixed drives on the system.
ExcludeDrives	String[]	-	-	Array of drive letters to skip when using `-AllDrives`.
MaxDepth	Int32	`5`	1-20	Maximum folder depth to include in results.
Top	Int32	`40`	1-1000	Maximum number of items to return per drive.
FolderSize	Switch	`$false`	-	Show only folders in results (excludes files).
FileSize	Switch	`$false`	-	Show only large files in results (excludes folders).
FindDuplicates	Switch	`$false`	-	Enable duplicate file detection using xxHash64.
MinDuplicateSize	Int64	`10MB`	0+	Minimum file size to consider for duplicate detection.
VerboseOutput	Switch	`$false`	-	Display progress information during scan.

Examples¶

Scan a Single Drive¶

$results = Get-FolderSizes -DriveLetter C

Scan with Custom Depth and Results¶

$results = Get-FolderSizes -DriveLetter C -MaxDepth 5 -Top 50

Scan All Drives¶

$results = Get-FolderSizes -AllDrives

Scan All Drives Except D:¶

$results = Get-FolderSizes -AllDrives -ExcludeDrives @("D")

Find Duplicate Files¶

$results = Get-FolderSizes -DriveLetter C -FindDuplicates

Find Large Duplicates Only (50MB+)¶

$results = Get-FolderSizes -DriveLetter C -FindDuplicates -MinDuplicateSize 50MB

Show Only Folders¶

$results = Get-FolderSizes -DriveLetter C -FolderSize -Top 100

Show Only Large Files¶

$results = Get-FolderSizes -DriveLetter C -FileSize -Top 100

Verbose Output for Monitoring¶

$results = Get-FolderSizes -AllDrives -FindDuplicates -VerboseOutput

Return Object¶

Get-FolderSizes returns a PSCustomObject with the following properties:

Property	Type	Description
Items	List	Folders/files sorted by size descending
FileTypes	List	File extension statistics
CleanupSuggestions	List	Identified cleanup opportunities
Duplicates	List	Duplicate file groups (if `-FindDuplicates` specified)
DriveInfo	List	Drive capacity and usage for each scanned drive
TotalDuplicateWasted	Int64	Total bytes wasted by duplicate files
TotalFiles	Int64	Total files scanned
TotalFolders	Int64	Total folders scanned
TotalErrorCount	Int64	Count of access errors encountered

Items Structure¶

Each item in the Items collection:

[PSCustomObject]@{
    Drive        = "C:"           # Drive letter
    Path         = "C:\Users"     # Full path
    Size         = "15.20 GB"     # Human-readable size
    SizeBytes    = 16324567890    # Size in bytes
    IsDirectory  = $true          # True for folders
    LastModified = "2024-01-15"   # Last modified date
}

DriveInfo Structure¶

Each item in the DriveInfo collection:

[PSCustomObject]@{
    Drive       = "C:"            # Drive letter
    TotalSize   = 500107862016    # Total capacity in bytes
    UsedSpace   = 350075703296    # Used space in bytes
    FreeSpace   = 150032158720    # Free space in bytes
    UsedPercent = 70.0            # Usage percentage
}

Duplicates Structure¶

Each item in the Duplicates collection (when -FindDuplicates is used):

[PSCustomObject]@{
    Drive       = "C:"            # Drive letter
    Hash        = "a1b2c3d4..."   # xxHash64 hash
    FileSize    = 104857600       # Size of each file in bytes
    Files       = @(              # Array of duplicate paths
        "C:\path1\file.exe",
        "C:\path2\file.exe"
    )
    WastedSpace = 104857600       # Wasted bytes (FileSize × (Count-1))
}

FileTypes Structure¶

Each item in the FileTypes collection:

[PSCustomObject]@{
    Drive     = "C:"              # Drive letter
    Extension = ".exe"            # File extension
    TotalSize = 5368709120        # Combined size in bytes
    FileCount = 1250              # Number of files
}

CleanupSuggestions Structure¶

Each item in the CleanupSuggestions collection:

[PSCustomObject]@{
    Drive       = "C:"            # Drive letter
    Path        = "C:\Windows\Temp"  # Path to cleanup target
    Category    = "temp"          # Cleanup category
    Size        = 1073741824      # Size in bytes
    Description = "Temporary files that can be safely deleted"
}

Working with Results¶

Get Top 10 Largest Folders¶

$results = Get-FolderSizes -DriveLetter C
$results.Items | Where-Object { $_.IsDirectory } | Select-Object -First 10

Calculate Total Wasted Space from Duplicates¶

$results = Get-FolderSizes -DriveLetter C -FindDuplicates
$wastedGB = [math]::Round($results.TotalDuplicateWasted / 1GB, 2)
Write-Output "Total wasted: ${wastedGB} GB"

Find Drives Over 80% Full¶

$results = Get-FolderSizes -AllDrives
$results.DriveInfo | Where-Object { $_.UsedPercent -gt 80 }

Export Results to CSV¶

$results = Get-FolderSizes -DriveLetter C
$results.Items | Export-Csv -Path "DiskUsage.csv" -NoTypeInformation

Notes¶

Requires Administrator privileges for full access to all folders
Uses NTFS MFT enumeration for maximum performance
Duplicate detection uses xxHash64 for fast, reliable hashing
Access errors are tracked but don't stop the scan