Wrong calculation of folder size by Windows

Anonymous
2018-06-28T18:16:18+00:00

Hello,

I noticed today that my Windows system does not properly calculate folder sizes.

I'm actually trying to make a backup of all my personal and work content. When I check the whole backup folder size under properties, It shows me around 10 Gb. But when I open this big folder and select a subfolder, It show me 30 Gb... This is kind of really annoying and I think it's a major issue Microsoft should fix ASAP.

I would like to say (because I didn't find anywhere else to post it) that in my opinion, Microsoft lacks ways of collecting feedback from his clients. There is nowhere we can manually report bugs and crashes.

In any ways, I think that showing correct folder sizes is a really basic task that an Operating System should be able to do. Such a bug is inacceptable for a leader like Microsoft, and I honestly consider going along with Apple if this issue does not get quickly fixed. My computer will soon need to be changed in anyways.

Meanwhile, if some of you guys have found ways to go around this major issue, feel free to share them :). Thank you!

Here is my technical information :

Intel Core i7-3720QM 2.60 GHz

64 bits

Windows 10 family version 1803

Installed on 2018-06-20

O.S. version 17134.112

Many thanks is advance,

Antoine

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Files, folders, and storage

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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Answer accepted by question author
DaveM121 931.8K Reputation points Independent Advisor
2018-06-28T18:35:14+00:00

Hi Antoine_795,

It is widely reported that version 1803 of Windows 10 has introduced a bug into Explorer.exe

It is because it cannot read the metadata of files correctly, it mixes up the size and dimensions for example

Therefore it cannot calculate the size of a folder, especially if it has sub-folders, it also cannot calculate the spare space on a hard drive . . .

In the meantime, while we are waiting for Microsoft to fix this bug:

Click the link below to download a small free utility called Treesize - it is a great utility . . .

Using that tool, you will instantly see the size of all folders (always missing form File Explorer) and where space is being used on your hard drive . . .

https://www.jam-software.com/treesize_free/

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  1. Anonymous
    2019-04-21T01:26:39+00:00

    No, the update did not fix the issue.

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  2. Anonymous
    2019-04-21T01:23:31+00:00

    That is not a solution.  It occurs for almost any directory.  For example, my D drive shows 160 gig of files, but if I click on D and get the size of the individual directories as a group, I get 184 gig, if I click down and get the individual sub-directories below the top level directories the file size comes out to 3.8 TB.  The further you drill down, the larger your files size becomes, but then you end up having to add all of the individual sub directories together to to the total.  Windows has had this error for over a year now, and there is no solution in site.

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  3. Anonymous
    2019-04-08T20:00:25+00:00

    This was a great recommendation.  TreeSize solved my problem, which was causing me great concerns about whether I was getting complete backups on my external hard drive or not.  I spent a couple of days trying to figure out why the amount of data in the same folders on different media was being reported differently.  That is now solved thanks to the recommendation of Treesize. 

    I'm using the free version, but because it is so helpful, I'm inclined to buy the Pro version.  I love the fact that you can print the contents of folders.  It is totally LAME that Microsoft has never given us this capability.  I remember XTREE and QDOS in the past, which always let you print out folder contents.  Wake up, Microsoft; everyone can use this capability.  I'm almost glad I had this problem, which caused me to find DaveM121's very helpful reply.  THANK YOU, DAVE!!

    Ron M.

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  4. Anonymous
    2019-04-08T16:14:15+00:00

    its not the programs we're worried about - these are the main file shares so the path length is due to the user created hierarchies. Our root shares only take up 15 characters -20 at the most & the rest is on sub folders for users- now re organization may help but we tried this pre-migration and only some groups reogranized well but still every department can't be forced to do this or lose their folder structures or the ability to check properties of the folders right- that would be just crazy.  worst part is when I check properties of the directory remotely - it shows whatever the local OS is scanning not what your PC/Server is. :-(

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