Wrong calculation of folder size by Windows

Anonymous

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

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Answer accepted by question author

DaveM121 931.8K Independent Advisor

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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105 additional answers

Anonymous

2019-05-22T07:27:54+00:00

i can say that the latest version of windows finally FIXED the issue (Windows 1903)

I have the most recent Windows Updates and as of today the problem still persists.
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Anonymous

2019-05-22T08:08:42+00:00

are you sure?

go to Start-Settings-System-About and under windows specification, what version does it say?

1803, 1809 or 1903

they are rolling out 1903 slowly, i did a clean install of it, thats how i got it, you can force the update if you wish also.
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Anonymous

2019-05-22T16:10:54+00:00

The file directory size problem has existed for the last three versions of Windows. At least since Windows 7. I havent checked versions prior to 7. So it is unlikely that after knowing about it for more than 8 years they are going to do anything about it now.
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Anonymous

2019-05-22T16:27:20+00:00

Fortunately I found the utility TreeSize. It has solved the problem for me. I’m going to stop worrying and wasting time on the problem. Thanks for your comments.
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