FILE REPORTS FAQ

FolderSizes includes a Largest Files report that instantly identifies the biggest files consuming your storage. Unlike basic Windows Explorer sorting, it scans across entire drives or network shares and presents results in a single, sortable list.

How to run a largest files report:

• Scan any local drive, folder, or network path in FolderSizes
• Open the Largest Files report from the File Reports panel
• Results appear instantly — sorted by file size, showing the full path, size, and last modified date for every file

What makes this different from Windows search:

• Cross-folder results — See the biggest files across an entire drive in one view, not folder by folder
• Accurate sizing — Shows both logical file size and actual size on disk (accounting for cluster allocation and compression)
• Actionable results — Move, copy, delete, or archive files directly from the report
• Export and share — Export results to HTML, Excel, PDF, CSV, or XML for documentation or review

This is often the fastest way to reclaim disk space — a handful of large files (ISO images, video files, old backups) frequently account for a significant portion of used storage.

FolderSizes provides multiple ways to identify old files that may be candidates for archival or deletion:

Oldest Files report:

• Lists files sorted by their last modified or last accessed date
• Quickly reveals files that haven't been touched in months or years
• Helps prioritize cleanup by showing both age and size

File Ages report:

• Groups all scanned files into age ranges (e.g., less than 30 days, 1–3 months, 3–6 months, 6–12 months, 1–2 years, 2+ years)
• Shows total size and file count per age bucket
• Makes it immediately clear what proportion of your storage is consumed by aging data

File Years report (new in FolderSizes 10):

• Breaks down file counts and sizes by calendar year — based on creation, modification, or last access dates
• Provides a year-by-year view of how files accumulated over time
• Useful for identifying years with unusually large data accumulation

Practical cleanup approach:

• Start with the File Ages report to understand the scope of aging data
• Use the Oldest Files report to identify specific candidates
• Archive or delete directly from the report results
• Use scheduled reports to monitor aging data over time

FolderSizes includes a Duplicate Files report that identifies files with identical names, sizes, and optionally modification dates across your scanned file system.

How duplicate detection works:

• Files are compared by name and size to identify potential duplicates
• You can optionally include modification date as an additional matching criterion for greater precision
• Results are grouped by duplicate set, showing all copies and their locations
• Total wasted space from duplicates is calculated automatically

Working with duplicate results:

• Review before deleting — Not all duplicates are wasteful; some may be intentional backups or required by applications
• Selection Assist — Built-in tools to help you quickly select which copies to keep and which to remove
• Safe deletion — Delete to the Recycle Bin so files can be recovered if needed
• Export results — Save the duplicate report to CSV, Excel, or other formats before taking action

Common sources of duplicate files:

• Multiple downloads of the same file
• Copied folders that were never cleaned up
• Email attachments saved to different locations
• Backup copies scattered across drives

The Newest Files report in FolderSizes shows recently created or modified files across your entire scanned file system.

Common uses for the Newest Files report:

• Monitor recent activity — See what files have been added or changed recently on a file server
• Identify unexpected growth — Spot sudden spikes in new file creation that may indicate runaway processes, log accumulation, or unauthorized usage
• Audit file creation — Track what's being added to shared storage over time
• Post-migration verification — Confirm that files were copied or created as expected after a data migration

Like all FolderSizes file reports, results can be exported to HTML, Excel, PDF, CSV, or XML, and files can be managed (moved, copied, deleted, archived) directly from the report view.

FolderSizes 10 introduces a Non-Business Files report that identifies personal and non-work-related files consuming corporate storage. This report classifies files by extension into categories that are typically not business-related.

Default non-business file categories:

• Personal Video — Movie and video files (.mp4, .mkv, .avi, .mov, .wmv, and more)
• Personal Music — Audio and music files (.mp3, .flac, .aac, .wav, .ogg, and more)
• eBooks and Comics — Digital books and comics (.epub, .mobi, .cbr, .azw, and more)
• Gaming — Game files, save data, and ROMs (.rom, .sav, .pak, .wad, and more)
• Torrents and P2P — Torrent and peer-to-peer sharing files (.torrent, .nzb)
• Disc Images — ISO and disc image files (.iso, .img, .nrg, .mdf, and more)
• Streaming Media — Cached content from streaming services
• Subtitle Files — Movie and TV subtitle files (.srt, .sub, .ass)
• Personal Photos — Camera RAW formats (disabled by default, since these may overlap with legitimate business graphics work)

Why this matters for IT teams:

• Reclaim wasted storage — Personal media files can consume significant space on shared drives
• Enforce storage policies — Identify policy violations before they become a capacity problem
• Reduce risk — Torrent files and disc images can indicate unauthorized software or pirated content
• Budget justification — Quantify exactly how much corporate storage is being used for non-business purposes

Customization: The classification groups are defined in an XML configuration file, so you can add, remove, or modify categories and file extensions to match your organization's policies. Individual categories can be enabled or disabled.

FolderSizes provides two complementary reports for understanding what types of files are consuming your storage:

File Types report:

• Groups files by their extension (.docx, .pdf, .jpg, .log, etc.)
• Shows total size, file count, and percentage of storage for each extension
• Quickly reveals which file formats dominate your storage — often log files, database backups, or media files are the top consumers

File Categories report:

• Groups file extensions into logical categories (Documents, Images, Video, Audio, Archives, Databases, etc.)
• Provides a higher-level view than raw extensions — instead of seeing .doc, .docx, .odt, .rtf separately, you see them combined under "Documents"
• Categories are customizable to match your organization's needs

Practical applications:

• Capacity planning — Understand what's driving storage growth (is it database backups? log files? user documents?)
• Policy enforcement — Identify whether storage policies are being followed (e.g., no video files on production servers)
• Migration planning — Know what types of data you're dealing with before a storage migration

The File Owners report in FolderSizes analyzes NTFS file ownership to show storage consumption by user account.

What the File Owners report shows:

• Total file size and count per owner (domain\username)
• Percentage of total scanned storage consumed by each owner
• Works on any NTFS volume, including network file shares

Use cases:

• Storage chargeback — Allocate storage costs to departments or users based on actual consumption
• Quota enforcement — Identify users who are consuming disproportionate amounts of shared storage
• Orphaned data — Find files owned by accounts that no longer exist (former employees, deleted service accounts)
• Compliance — Audit who owns sensitive data on shared drives

Combine the File Owners report with the Trend Analyzer to track how each user's storage consumption changes over time.

FolderSizes offers several tools for understanding how your data ages and how storage usage changes over time:

File Ages report:

• Groups files into configurable age buckets (e.g., 0–30 days, 1–3 months, 3–6 months, 6–12 months, 1–2 years, 2+ years)
• Shows the total size and file count in each age range
• Reveals what percentage of your storage is occupied by aging, potentially unused data

File Years report (new in FolderSizes 10):

• Provides a year-by-year breakdown of files based on their creation, modification, or last access timestamps
• Shows file count and total size for each calendar year
• Useful for spotting trends — for example, a spike in data creation during a specific year that might warrant investigation
• Tracks all three date dimensions independently (created, modified, accessed) for more nuanced analysis

Trend Analyzer (Pro edition):

• Takes multiple file system snapshots over time and compares them
• Tracks storage growth by folder, file type, owner, age distribution, and more
• Visualizes trends in charts for capacity planning and anomaly detection
• Can be scheduled to capture snapshots automatically at regular intervals

The Temporary Files report in FolderSizes identifies files that are likely temporary and safe to clean up. These files accumulate over time from application activity, Windows updates, web browsing, and software installations.

Common sources of temporary files:

• Windows temp directories (user and system)
• Browser caches and downloaded program files
• Application crash dumps and log files
• Installer extraction remnants
• Development and build artifacts

On servers and workstations that have been running for months or years, temporary files can accumulate into gigabytes of wasted space. The Temporary Files report makes it easy to identify and quantify this waste.

The File Attributes report groups files by their Windows file attributes, giving you visibility into file characteristics that are normally hidden from view.

Attributes analyzed:

• Hidden — Files not visible in default Explorer views; useful for finding hidden data consuming space
• System — Operating system files; helps distinguish OS overhead from user data
• Read-only — Protected files that can't be accidentally modified
• Compressed — NTFS-compressed files; compare logical size vs. size on disk to see compression effectiveness
• Encrypted — EFS-encrypted files; important for compliance auditing
• Archive — Files flagged for backup; useful for verifying backup coverage

Practical use cases:

• Security audits — Find hidden or encrypted files on shared storage
• Compression analysis — Evaluate whether NTFS compression is saving meaningful space
• Backup verification — Ensure the archive attribute is set correctly for your backup strategy

Yes. Every file report in FolderSizes (Pro edition) can be exported to multiple professional formats:

• HTML — Web-ready reports with customizable templates; easy to share via email or intranet
• Microsoft Excel — Full workbooks with multiple report sheets; ready for further analysis, charts, or pivot tables
• PDF — Formatted, print-ready reports suitable for management presentations and audits
• CSV — Simple delimited format for import into databases, scripts, or other tools
• XML — Structured data format; also used for snapshot comparison and trend analysis

Automation options:

• Scheduled reports — Use the built-in task scheduler to generate reports automatically on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis
• Email delivery — Have reports emailed automatically to one or more recipients
• Command-line interface — Generate and export reports from scripts or batch files for integration with other workflows

The File Depths report analyzes how deeply nested your folder structures are, which can reveal organizational issues and potential problems.

What the File Depths report shows:

• File count and total size at each level of folder depth
• Identifies excessively deep folder hierarchies that may cause path length issues
• Helps detect auto-generated or runaway folder structures (e.g., recursive symbolic links, deep build artifacts)

Why folder depth matters:

• MAX_PATH limitations — Windows traditionally limits paths to 260 characters; deeply nested folders with long names can exceed this limit, causing access failures
• Backup and migration issues — Some backup and sync tools struggle with very deep paths
• Organizational clarity — Excessively deep hierarchies often indicate poor folder organization that makes files hard to find