Many people receive a notification that their computer disk is nearly full, but they are unsure what is actually taking up the space. This is because Windows storage settings only show "Apps take up X GB, and Others take up X GB." In such cases, the free open-source tool WinDirStat (Windows Directory Statistics) is helpful. What WinDirStat does WinDirStat scans your drive and displays the space occupied by files and folders simultaneously across three screens: a list of folders sorted by size, usage by file type, and a treemap displaying individual files as colored squares. Since a larger square indicates a larger file, you can see at a glance which files are taking up the most space. Usage order 1. Download and install from the official website (windirstat.net). It is ad-free, does not require an account, and is available in installable and portable (run from USB) versions. 2. Run the program and select the drive to scan (usually the C drive). 3. Once the scan is complete, check the large square first. Old backups, forgotten video projects, ISO files, game installation files, etc. are frequently found. 4. Always check what the file is before deleting it. It is safe not to touch unknown system files. You can choose to send the file to the Recycle Bin within the program. Points to note WinDirStat is a tool that shows you the space; it does not decide for you what to delete. This is precisely why it is safer than automatic cleanup programs. · To accurately scan system protection folders, it is recommended to run with administrator privileges. · Mac users can use tools like Disk Inventory X or GrandPerspective instead of WinDirStat. · If you feel the scanning speed is slow, there are also alternatives such as WizTree or TreeSize Free. Instead of blindly deleting files when disk space is low, if you get into the habit of viewing the entire space first and organizing large files first, you can sometimes recover tens of GB in just a few minutes. Source: WinDirStat Official Site Guide and Digital Citizen Usage (https://www.digitalcitizen.life/what-is-windirstat-and-how-to-find-what-is-taking-up-space-on-windows/ ), Introduction to FossHub WinDirStat (https://www.fosshub.com/WinDirStat.html ) | 
