FileTree

See where your disk space goes. FileTree scans a folder or a whole drive, adds up every file inside it, and shows you the biggest folders and files first — in a folder tree, a colourful treemap and a list of the largest files. When you find something you no longer need, move it to the Recycle Bin right from the window.

English | 繁體中文 | 简体中文

Features

• One click to start: pick a folder, click a drive, drag a folder onto the window, or paste a path.
• Fast, and live: several folders are read at once; about 740,000 files and folders are scanned in 6–8 seconds on an SSD. The tree fills in while the scan runs, biggest folders first, and Stop keeps what was read so far.
• Folder tree sorted largest first, with the space each entry takes on disk, a bar showing its share of its folder, file and folder counts, and the last change inside it.
• Chart, three ways to see a folder, switched in the corner of the tab: the treemap (every file a rectangle sized by the space it takes), bars (one bar per entry of the folder, largest first, with its size and share: easiest to read exactly) and the sunburst (the folder in the centre, each deeper level a ring: the whole hierarchy at a glance). Click to find an entry in the tree, double-click to go into a folder; all three follow.
• Largest files: the 1,000 biggest files anywhere in the scan, with a filter box.
• Search (Ctrl+F): find files and folders by name, or by a pattern such as *.mp4, anywhere in the scan.
• Duplicates: files with the same content, grouped, with the space the extra copies take; select the extra copies with one click and move them to the Recycle Bin.
• Compare with an earlier scan: save a scan as JSON, and later see which folders grew, shrank, appeared or disappeared since.
• File types and Age: space used per extension and kind (pictures, videos, archives…) and by when files last changed; double-click a row to list its largest files.
• Free space safely: Move to Recycle Bin always asks first and never deletes permanently; the numbers update immediately, without a rescan.
• Export the folder list or the largest files to CSV (opens in Excel), or the folder tree to JSON.
• English, 繁體中文 and 简体中文, switchable at any time; a built-in How to use guide.
• Links and junctions are listed but never followed, so nothing is counted twice and a link loop cannot trap a scan. Folders that cannot be read are listed under Problems instead of stopping the scan.

Install

FileTree needs Python 3.10 or newer. It runs on Windows, macOS and Linux.

pip install git+https://github.com/JeffreyChen-s-Utils/FileTree.git
je-file-tree

Or run it from a copy of the source:

git clone https://github.com/JeffreyChen-s-Utils/FileTree.git
cd FileTree
pip install -r requirements.txt
python start_file_tree.py

python -m je_file_tree does the same.

Build a stand-alone program

To give FileTree to someone without Python, compile it with Nuitka into a program folder or a single .exe: see nuitka.md for the commands and what each option does.

How to use

1. Choose what to scan: click Choose a folder… or one of the drives on the start page, drag a folder onto the window, or type a path in the box at the top and press Enter. You can also start a scan from the command line: je-file-tree D:\Projects (or python start_file_tree.py D:\Projects).
2. Watch it fill in: the tree appears right away and the biggest folders move to the top while FileTree works; the largest files and file types follow when the scan ends. Stop (or Esc) ends the scan at any time and keeps what was read so far, marked as incomplete.
3. Find what takes the space: the biggest folders are at the top of the tree. Open a folder with the arrow next to it, or explore the chart on the right.

Reading the results

Freeing space

Right-click any entry to open it, show it in your file manager, copy its path, show it in the chart, rescan that folder after changes made outside FileTree (the rest of the results stay), scan that folder on its own, or move it to the Recycle Bin (the Trash on macOS and Linux). To move several entries at once, pick them with Ctrl+click or Shift+click in the folder tree, the Largest files list or the search results: FileTree asks once, listing them with their total size. It always asks before moving anything and never deletes permanently.

Seeing what grew

Save a scan with File → Export → Folder tree (JSON). Later, after a new scan, choose File → Compare with a saved scan… and open that file: a Changes tab lists every folder that changed, with its size then and now, the biggest growth first; new folders say new and removed ones gone. The comparison follows further rescans until you press Stop comparing. Folders are matched by their path below the scanned folder, so a scan can also be compared with a copy of the same tree elsewhere, such as a backup.

Keyboard shortcuts

On macOS use ⌘ instead of Ctrl (⌘R rescans).

Good to know

• Sizes are real file sizes in binary units (1 KB = 1,024 bytes), the same as Windows Explorer. Pick a fixed unit under View → Size unit.
• On Windows, FileTree asks for administrator rights when it starts, like TreeSize, so it can read protected folders too. Say no and it runs normally; folders it could not read are listed under Problems, with a Restart as administrator button (also in the File menu). Turn the question off under View → Ask for administrator rights at start.
• Hidden files are counted. Turn off View → Include hidden files to leave them out of the next scan.
• Your language, size unit, window layout and recently scanned folders are remembered (on Windows in the registry under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\JE-Chen\FileTree).

Development

pip install -r dev_requirements.txt
python -m pytest
python -m ruff check .
python tools/make_screenshots.py

tools/make_screenshots.py redraws the README pictures from a made-up folder, in every language. The code layout, the main flows and the design rules are described in architecture.md.

License

MIT — see LICENSE.