WinDirStat

WinDirStat is a free and open-source graphical disk usage analyzer for Microsoft Windows. It presents a sub-tree view with disk-use percentage alongside a usage-sorted list of file extensions that is interactively integrated with a colorful graphical display (a treemap).^[1][2][3] Created as an open-source project released under the GNU GPL, it was developed using Visual C++/MFC and distributed using GitHub. The project was inspired by SequoiaView, an application based on research done by the Visualization Section of the Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science at the Technische Universiteit Eindhoven.^[4][5]

WinDirStat

WinDirStat 2.2.2
Developer(s)	Bernhard Seifertm, Oliver Schneider, Bryan Berns
Initial release	1 October 2003; 21 years ago (2003-10-01)
Stable release	2.2.2 / 17 January 2025; 2 months ago (2025-01-17)
Repository	github.com/windirstat/windirstat
Operating system	Windows
Size	4.5 MB
Type	Disk space analyzer
License	GNU GPLv2
Website	windirstat.net

Popularity

WinDirStat was downloaded more than 9 million times from the official source since its original release in October 2003 through 2011.^[6] As of August 2024, it was the third most downloaded "Filesystems" software on SourceForge, with more than 54,000 downloads per week.^[7]

Project status

As of early 2024, the project has been very active and released its first new version after many years.^[8]

Source code

Source code is provided for all released versions on the GitHub page in ZIP format.

WinDirStat is developed via Git revision control.

Features

• List of detected file extensions, and the percentage of space each file extension takes up.
• Each extension has its own color on the graphical map.
• Is able to scan internal, external and networked drives.
• Portable version besides the installer.
• User-created clean up jobs.
• Send report via email.

Version history

Version	Date	Information
2.0.1	October 2024	Performance enhancements, duplicate file detection, visual enhancements, and more cleanup features.
1.1.2 (#2)	September 2007	Added translations: Finnish, Dutch, Russian, Estonian
1.1.2 (#1)	September 2006	Spanish, Hungarian, Italian, and Czech translations. Minor optimization
1.1.1	January 2005	"Christmas Release" Pacman replaces progress bar, Polish translation, localization tweaks, documentation updates, bugfixes
1.1.0	January 2004	Added French translation, feature tweaks, bugfixes
1.0.1	December 2003	Bugfixes, added more display columns, added drive selection dialog
1.0.0	October 2003	First release. 1.0.0 README states: Design and many details are based on KDirStat (kdirstat.sourceforge.net). WinDirStat is "a KDirStat re-programmed for MS Windows".

Media reception

FossHub (official download mirror of WinDirStat) reported 6,912,000 downloads in January 2019, being the most downloaded software from "Disk Analysers" category."^[9]

Steve Bass of PC World provided a brief review of the 1.1.2 release of WinDirStat, summarizing its usefulness: "Windirstat is [a] colorful and nifty tool to check the makeup of your hard drive -- especially if you're looking for immense files. It scans your drive and produces a treemap that shows each file as a colored rectangle that's proportional to the file's size..."^[10]

In 2006, WinDirStat was "Download of the day" on Lifehacker. Reviewer Adam Pash praised WinDirStat for its ability to easily clean up unnecessary files, by stating: "If you find a large file or two taking up loads of space that you had forgotten was there and don't need, it's easy to clean up directly from WinDirStat. "

CNET reviewed the most recent release of WinDirStat and gave it 5 of 5 stars. It called WinDirStat a "great piece of freeware" and noted: "It's one of those tools that you didn't know you needed until you started using it, but once installed, it's hard to imagine life without it..."^[11]

Gizmo's Freeware directory featured WinDirStat in a January 2010 list of best free disk analysis software with a 4 of 5 stars review, noting: "The open source program WinDirStat is [an] outstanding program. It uses three ways to display the disk usage: a directory list, a file extension list and a rectangular treemap. The visual presentation, overall usability and scan speed makes this a great tool to visualize disk usage."^[12]

The German computer magazine c't (magazin für computertechnik) published a review of WinDirStat with it bundled in a CD in October 2006.^[13]

In 2011, Jack Wallen from TechRepublic called WinDirStat: "one of those simple little apps you are going to be very thankful you have when you need it." He also highlighted its usability: "If space is an issue ... you will see just how much time this tool can save you." However, Jack Wallen criticized the documentation, stating: "The biggest issue with WinDirStat is the documentation. The minute you try to create your own user-configured cleanup routines you will quickly experience a complete lack of documentation, which makes the task rather challenging, if not impossible."^[14]