Quickly Find Large Files On Windows File System

Once a year I need to free up space on my work machine. Once a year I find myself searching for an efficient way to identify the largest files that I do not need any longer without installing third party software. Here is the solution I stumbled on this year and it couldn’t be simpler.

• Open File Explorer
• Navigate to the drive you want to search. Normally, C:\
• Type “size:gigantic” in the search bar
• Wait for the search to complete
• Sort the results by size

This search will scan your computer’s file system for files that are larger than 128mb. You can then identify files that are no longer needed.

Ignore all the large files in the C:\Windows\ directory. You want to keep those. Look for files that are in your Documents or Downloads directories first. I always find one or two multi gigabyte files I forgot to delete.