Windows File Explorer Not Showing Correct Folder Size If Folder Named 'Applications'

Anonymous
2018-05-03T21:08:26+00:00

Since installing the 1803 update, Windows File Explorer doesn't display the correct folder size if the folder is named 'Applications'.

There seems to be a bug that if the folder name is 6 characters or more and starts with 'Appli', the folder size shows significantly less than it actually is.  For example if the folder is named 'Apps' or 'Appli', it will display the size correctly.  If however it is named 'Applications' or 'Applix' or 'Appliy', then it won't display correctly.

The Feedback app doesn't work on my computer due to having telemetry settings set to 'Basic', therefore I am reporting the bug here instead.

OS Version:

Windows 10 Pro X64 (17134.1, 1803)

Screenshots:

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

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  1. Anonymous
    2018-07-25T19:01:34+00:00

    Other posts confirm that this is a path length problem.

    Why this matters:

    * The potential for loss of data seems very real. One scenario: a folder containing a set of nested folders forming a long path that breaks folder properties, with no files in any of the folders. This top-level subfolder is followed by other subfolders with thousands of files. Folder properties would show 0 files thanks to this bug. User shift-deletes the root folder thinking it's safe and watches in horror as their data is purged.

    * Browsers and modern dev tools like npm create these paths all the time. This is not rare or unusual.

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  2. Anonymous
    2018-07-20T16:40:07+00:00

    I am seeing a similar issue. A parent folder shows 11.9GB in size, but the sum of the sub folders is 150GB. This was for an Amazon Drive file sync folder... I re downloaded my amazon drive to a new folder and used beyond compare 4 to calculate more detailed comparisons between new and old. This appears to be a windows issue.

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  3. Anonymous
    2018-07-18T23:07:28+00:00

    I'd guess it's related to path name length.

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    7 people found this answer helpful.
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  4. Anonymous
    2018-07-18T23:06:19+00:00

    I'm also seeing this and the folder name doesn't matter. Just started recently. It's occurring on a Samsung 970 SSD. This is the Windows 10 system drive. 

    Top folder says there are 38,690 files. If I open the folder, select all subfolders and do properties, the new values is 90,330 files. If I open the first subfolder and select its subfolders, I get 100,215 files!

    A serious problem.

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  5. Anonymous
    2018-07-10T08:11:24+00:00

    I have exactly the same problem. I have seen this before some versions of Windows ago. Looks like they reintroduced this problem. The funny thing is when I move the directory to another directory and then ask for the size I get another size (still not the proper one).  When I move it to a directory that i just created I get the wrong size. There seems to be a problem with newly created directories since build 1803. 

    Did some test: It has definitely something to do with the name of the directory above the one  you are asking the file size off. When I rename that directory to something completely different I remove the problem. When I rename it back I have the problem again.

    Did some more testing. The problem is worse when the name of the directory above is longer then 8 bytes. below 8 bytes I get more data reported then above 8 bytes but still not the proper amount. This is very weird.

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