TreeSize Free: what it does and who it is for
TreeSize Free measures how much room files and folders take on a Windows drive. It walks the selected directory tree, attributes the size of every file to each ancestor folder, and presents the result as an expandable tree plus an optional bar chart or treemap. Columns for allocated size, wasted space and file count distinguish between a folder that is merely large and a folder full of slack. Because the scan is read-only and surfaces the largest consumers first, it answers the everyday question of where the disk went without any guesswork or manual arithmetic.
How the workflow fits together
The installer takes a few seconds, and the portable build starts scanning as soon as you point it at a folder or drive. The tree fills in progressively, so you can start exploring before the scan has finished. Right-clicking a folder opens the usual Explorer actions or jumps straight to it, while the chart view gives a quick visual ranking of the largest children. Scans can be limited by depth, by file age or by filters, and a scan of a specific drive can be saved and reloaded for comparison later. Running the program elevated is the reliable way to measure folders that ordinary user accounts cannot read.
Configuration, limits and trade-offs
The free edition covers the core analysis: size, allocated size, percentage, file count, last-change date and the chart view. Features aimed at ongoing administration, such as scheduled scans, exported reports and searching within archives, belong to the paid editions, and the free version is licensed for a single installation per user. Symbolic links, junctions and hard links can make two folders appear to hold the same bytes, so the allocated-size column is worth reading carefully on modern Windows installations. Scanning a network share works but is naturally slower than scanning a local volume, and very deep trees take proportionally longer to enumerate.
When to choose something else
Pick something else if you need a treemap-first interface with per-file drill-down and full keyboard navigation, which WinDirStat and WizTree provide, or if you want duplicate and large-file removal built in. Analysers that read the NTFS master file table directly will index a multi-terabyte volume noticeably faster. For measuring only one or two folders occasionally, the storage settings page in Windows is sufficient.
- Best for
- Anyone whose drive is filling up and who needs a fast, read-only answer to which folders are responsible.
- Good to know
- The free edition is limited to one installation per user and omits scheduled scans, exported reports and searching inside archives.
TreeSize Free scans a folder or drive and ranks its children by the space they occupy.
How to get started
- Install TreeSize Free and launch it as administrator.
- Select a drive or drag a folder onto the window.
- Let the scan finish; the tree fills in progressively.
- Sort the child folders by size to see the largest consumers first.
- Switch to the chart view for a visual ranking of the top folders.
- Right-click a folder to open it in Explorer and act on what you find.
Questions & answers
Is the free edition really free?
Yes, for private and commercial use. It is limited to one installation per user and omits scheduled scans and report exports.
Why do two columns show different sizes?
Allocated size counts the clusters a file actually occupies, which reveals slack that the logical size hides.
Can it scan a network share?
It can, although scanning over the network is slower than scanning a local volume.
