How do I show folder size column in Windows 7 Explorer?

I've been using Beyond Compare for years and it offers a much better file/folder tool set than Win 7 explorer. Prior to showing you the size of each folder you need to go to Session>Session Settings>Handling>Automatically scan top-level folders.  You can also expand, in tree form, all sub-folders and files in them.  Couldn't live without it now.  It can either be used in portable or install mode. But it's not free - but it has a eval to check it out.

Per associated replies on this post, the answer to the exact inquiry by NeedFolderSize is that Windows 7 does not offer this feature on its own, but third party software can be used to provide it. However, based on your description of your larger task at hand, there may be some better options.

It depends on what you're doing, but if you have a specific daily routine that is unique to your work activities, I would consider exploring a programmatic solution.  The easiest of which would perhaps involve an Excel macro that makes use of a FileDialog Class and/or a filescriptingobject.  You could have your macro loop through the folders and return a hyperlinked report based on specific filetypes, names, dates, and/or content of files.  

Alternatively, I have found the search feature in the upper right hand corner of windows explorer to be an often underutilized tool.  I think it may give you exactly what you're looking for.  The underutilized portion of explorer's search feature is its ability to filter and return categorized results.

You can easily explore this option by doing some Googling (or Binging since this is a Microsoft forum :) ) for more information on syntax and how to use these features.  Here's somewhere to start: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/advanced-tips-for-searching-in-windows.  Also, you can try opening search by entering Window's Start menu and hitting F3, which will bring up an Explorer window that more clearly shows filter options.

See my post above dated 17 May 2014, which shows the editable right-click function window of Winfile within the screen print. Here is a screen print of that "Total Size" results window, which gives sufficient, although not as extensive folder size information as TreeSize Free:

    (SCREEN PRINT "Winfile Total Size Results Window.jpg")

Again, Winfile is the answer to many of Windows Explorer's shortcomings . . .

Sometimes, you may find that the path gets too long to view in the total size results box, which is not a new problem within many programs; consider Microsoft, where many of its windows are still based on an antiquated 640x480 screen size. (Ref: Trying to view the paths of the MSCONFIG "Startup" tab). The fix for this inadequacy is to download the program called ResizeEnable (Win7 compatible), which can be downloaded from here: http://www.digitallis.co.uk/pc/downloads/ResizeEnable.zip

I have looked everywhere for adding the column to show folder size in Windows 7.  When a folder is deleted to the recycle bin, the folder size is shown in the "Size" column.  How do I mimic the recycle bin settings for all Windows Explorer viewing?

You can use 2Explorer program (3rd Party) and then press Control + D which will show you size of all folders in the selected folder or drive.