CyberNotes: How to Display the Folder Size in Windows Explorer
Tutorial Thursday
Getting the size of folders in Windows XP has always been way too much of a pain if you ask me. There should be a built-in option to display the folder size much like how file sizes are displayed. The most obvious reason for them not providing such a tool is the length of time at CPU usage it takes to query a folder that contains thousands of files, such as the Program Files folder.
It is super easy to add a column in Windows Explorer that displays the folder size…in fact you can have it setup in under a minute. There aren’t that many steps to getting it done and if you want to save yourself 15-seconds download the utility called Folder Size, install it, and skip to step 3. I, however, prefer to bypass installing a program wherever possible, and this is one instance where it hardly seems necessary to install the program.
- Download the DirSize.dll file from this mirror that I setup. If you really want to the file can be downloaded from the DLL’s homepage, but you’ll have to register. After the download is complete, drag the DirSize.dll file to your \Windows\system32 folder:
- Next, open up the Run command by going to the Start Menu -> Run and then type regsvr32 dirsize.dll into the box:
After you press “OK” you should receive a confirmation box saying that the DLL was successfully registered:
- If you have a Windows Explorer window open you should close it and then reopen it. Then, when you’re in the Detailed view just right-click on a header and select Folder Size to add the column.
After doing this you should see the new column:
- After you get the column positioned just how you like it, you should go to Tools -> Folder Options -> View and click the button Apply to All Folders. This will ensure that the Folder Size column is displayed every time you use Windows Explorer.
I would say that the Folder Size works pretty well without straining your computer too much. You might notice folder sizes not showing up the first few times you use Windows Explorer because they do take a little while to calculate. For example, my Program Files folder has 25,000 files totaling 2.9GB and it took 32 seconds to calculate the folder size. However, it does appear to cache these values because the next time I came across that folder the size appeared instantly.
You’ll probably be surprised at the amount of space some of the folders take up on your PC once you have this installed. I managed to find some folders that had old versions of applications I used to install, but they are several years out of date. The only reason I noticed this folder was because I was navigating through Windows Explorer looking for a file and I noticed a 300MB folder. 
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Tags: CyberNotes, Freeware, Software, Windows
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Thank you!
BTW, does Windows Vista have similar feature built-in, or not?
I always thought that Windows should include this option.
Another annoyance is that the size of zip files are not displayed in the status bar like other files types. I know the size is displayed in the “Details” section of the folders sidebar but I rarely use it.
I actually can’t remember whether this was built into Vista or not. I’ll know for sure this weekend because I’ll be reinstalling Vista, but for some reason I was thinking this was available.
I never really look at the status bar for file sizes since I am always in the Details View, so I never noticed that. I wonder why that is?
nice tip but not necessarily the most precise (i know of no alternative). i have a 10 gig music folder that is showing as having 265 mb in it. i added 2 albums and it jumped to 404 mb. not sure how much i can trust it.
lol, I was just trying the other day to find a way to show my folders size.
Thanks for the tip!
I’ve had it calculate folders up to 3.5GB without problems, but I’m sure there are some limitations.
Ryan: you should try TreeSize. It calculates what folders take up all your space and displays them in a handy folder tree format. It’s a free download, but the developer also offers a Professional edition.
[jam-software.com] (site)
[jam-software.com] (screenshot)
Ha! You can fix this in seconds: Press “Start” / “Run” and enter this command:
That’s all. Now “ZIP folders” are ordinary files, like it was in earlier Windows versions.
Next you have to install any archiver, and associate it with .ZIP files:
Best SHAREWARE archiver is [rarlab.com]
Good FREE archiver is [7-zip.org]
I know a better app:
OverDisk
Homepage: [users.forthnet.gr]
User opinions: [snapfiles.com]
Screenshot: [softpedia.com]
i’m partial to jdiskreport:
[jgoodies.com]
Sweet tweak thanks.
now this one was handy ! nice
Wowsers, I have to admit that I wasn’t expecting such an awesome response.
I’m really glad everyone likes this post. 
It is absolutely unpredictable things… Sometimes less interesting post gets many comments. And sometimes vice versa: For example, there is a post on your site, which is interesting, and SHOULD get many comments, but the post is so complete itself, that people just don’t have any comments, they have nothing to add.
We never really looked at it that way, thanks for pointing that out. It just made our day a little brighter.
Nice tip Ryan but you need a correction! The command you have quoted is missing a vital “r”…it should read “regsrvr32 dirsize.dll” and not as stated in your article.
Please ignore my last comment! Posted in haste and retracted at leisure! The command is correct as you state “regsvr32 dirsize.dll”…my only problem is that I then get a message telling me that “loadLib failed…” after following your steps above.
I located a zipped version of the same file here [adminnotes.com] which worked fine this time with your instructions Ryan. I can’t understand why your file version didn’t sit happily on my system.
I’m not sure why my file didn’t work either.
It looks like you’re the first person to have said anything about it so I hope others aren’t having the same problem.