How to find files with large size in Windows 11 for more free space?

[LLoveaz]

It is a HP EliteBook 745 G5 laptop with 128 GB SSD. Now, there are only 10 GB free space left on this drive. I already used the disk cleanup tool in Windows 11 to delete junk and system caches. I plan to find all large files on Windows and backup them to an external drive if possible. How can I find files with large size in Windows 11? I want a quick and easy approach for doing this.

[Anetao]

To find files with large size in Windows 11 HP EliteBook 745 G5 laptop with a 128 GB SSD and only 10 GB of free space left, you can use the following methods:

Recommend: Use the Windows Search Feature for finding files with large size in Windows 11

1. Press the Windows key + S and type "search" to open the Windows Search tool.
2. In the search bar, type "size:largerthan" followed by a number (e.g., "size:largerthan 100MB").
3. Press Enter to view the results.
4. You can also use the "size:largerthan" search operator with other file attributes, such as file type or date modified.

[Bulldhair]

If you wish to swiftly locate large files consuming disk space in Windows 11 without installing third-party tools, utilising the built-in Storage Settings feature is the most convenient and efficient method.

How to locate large files in Windows 11

1. Press Win + I → Navigate to System → Click Storage
2. Select Drive C → Click Show more categories to view sections such as Apps   features, Documents, Pictures, Videos, Temporary files, Large or unused files, etc.
3. Click any category → Click the Size column header to sort by size
4. Useful tip: Click Cleanup suggestions to display large files that can be safely deleted

By following these steps, you can effortlessly locate various large files in Windows 11. Combining this with the ‘Cleanup suggestions’ further filters files that can be safely deleted, effectively freeing up disk space.

[Plutorprez]

I have a single-line PowerShell command method for locating large files in Windows 11, tailored specifically for technical users who prefer command-line operations over graphical interfaces.

Open PowerShell as an administrator: Press Win + X and select Windows PowerShell.

Copy the following command and execute it by pressing Enter. The command will automatically traverse the C drive, sort files in descending order by size, and display their full paths and sizes:

Get-ChildItem -Path C:\ -Recurse -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | Where-Object {$_.Length -gt 500MB} | Sort-Object Length -Descending | Select-Object FullName, @{Name="SizeGB";Expression={[math]::Round($_.Length/1GB,2)}} | Format-Table -AutoSize

To save a list of files larger than 100MB in the user directory to a specified text file, execute the following command:

Get-ChildItem -Path C:\Users\ -Recurse -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | Where-Object {$_.Length -gt 100MB} | Sort-Object Length -Descending | Select-Object FullName, @{Name="SizeGB";Expression={[math]::Round($_.Length/1GB,2)}} | Out-File "C:\LargeFiles.txt"

Upon execution, a file named ‘LargeFiles.txt’ will be found in the root directory of the C drive, containing details of all large files meeting the specified criteria.

Supplementary Notes

• ErrorAction SilentlyContinue: Suppresses errors encountered during traversal (e.g., insufficient permissions) to prevent command interruption.
• The file size threshold (500MB/100MB) may be adjusted as required. For instance, changing it to 1GB will locate files exceeding 1GB.
• Traversing the entire drive (C:\) may be time-consuming. Specifying a particular directory (e.g., C:\Users\your_username) is recommended to expedite processing.