Windows already shows a used bar. Settings, This PC, the little pie on a drive icon. That bar tells you the disk is full. It does not tell you which folder did it. Check storage on PC is the next step: a scan on this machine that names the directories and files. If you wanted a comparison with another brand, that sits on Disk analyzer vs WizTree. If you wanted the tool in the generic sense, that sits on Disk analyzer.

This is WinDirStat. Windows. GPL v2. The WinDirStat team publishes it. We did not make it. Official files live on GitHub Releases. The repo is windirstat/windirstat. This site does not host the installer. Skip Softonic, CNET, SourceForge wraps, and unofficial sites that wrap the name.

The button on this page goes to Install on the home page. Home is titled Open Source Disk Space Analyzer. The copy box on home is the live command. This page is the "why is this PC full" path after that install.

Install so you can actually check storage on this PC

Paste this into Windows Terminal or Command Prompt:

winget install -e --id WinDirStat.WinDirStat
Copy

If winget is missing, install App Installer from Microsoft, then paste the command again. Official Microsoft links only. The package id is WinDirStat.WinDirStat. Do not paste a lookalike id from a comment thread. Winget is the tidy fetch because Package Manager talks to the same publisher the GitHub account uses.

The other Windows path is GitHub Releases. Open the latest release. For most PCs, take WinDirStat-x64.msi. There is also WinDirStat.zip or WinDirStat.7z if you do not want an installer. Arm64 and x86 msi files sit on the same page. Pick one. Latest live tag observed on this site is v2.8.0. More of the live list sits on Open Source Disk Space Analyzer Releases. If you care how the file was fetched, Disk Space Analyzer Download Safe is the trust page. If winget itself is the missing piece, How to Install Winget is the Microsoft path. Repo and LICENSE sit on Open Source Disk Space Analyzer GitHub.

How to check storage on a PC on the desktop

  1. Install WinDirStat with the command on this page, or open the latest GitHub release and pick the Windows installer for your machine.
  2. Open the app on this Windows machine. You want a scan of a drive you already use, not a screenshot of Settings. This job starts from the disk in front of you.
  3. Pick a drive or a folder. A full C: scan answers "why is Windows complaining." A folder scan answers "is this project directory the problem." Wait until the tree, the extension list, and the treemap finish filling in.
  4. Read the directory list from the top. The largest folders float up. Open the ones you recognize. Downloads, Videos, a game library, a backup folder you forgot. Click a large rectangle in the treemap and the tree jumps to that file.
  5. Delete or move what you no longer need. Use the app's delete, or show the item in Explorer and handle it there. Empty Recycle Bin if you already sent files there. The original files stay until you choose. This site does not host the installer.

That list is the check. You are not uploading the drive. You are not pasting a disk report to a website. The scan never has to leave this PC.

Settings shows a bar. The scan shows the files

Settings, System, Storage is a pie. This PC in Explorer is a used and free pair. Those numbers are honest and thin. They will not name a 40 GB installer ISO sitting in Downloads. They will not name a duplicate of a video folder. Check storage on PC is the named list. The directory tree is sorted by size, so the hog is at the top, not buried under a name you never open.

The treemap is the same numbers drawn as area. A huge rectangle is a huge file. A cluster of medium rectangles is a folder full of similar files. Color follows the extension list, so a sea of one color is often one type: videos, archives, virtual disks. Click the type in the extension list and the treemap lights that type. You can see whether "the disk is full of pictures" is true before you start deleting.

Free space at the root of the tree is also a number you already knew. The point of the scan is the used part broken open. If C: is 90 percent full and Users is most of that, open Users. If Users is mostly one profile, open that profile. Keep walking until a folder you can actually throw away is selected. That walk is the job. A second scan after you delete confirms the bar in Settings moved.

After the scan, read the three panes

Start with folders you own. Documents, Downloads, Desktop, Videos, Pictures. Those are the ones you can delete without breaking Windows. A 12 GB file in Downloads that you already installed is a gift. A movie you finished is a gift. A folder named backup from two years ago is a gift if you have another copy. Click it in the tree, confirm the path, then delete or move.

AppData is larger than people expect. Caches, installers, game overlays, mail stores. You can look. Be slower to delete. If you do not recognize the parent app, leave it, or uninstall the app from Windows instead of ripping files out by hand. Program Files and Windows itself will look huge. That is normal. Do not empty System32 because a treemap made it look loud. Check storage on PC is a map, not a dare.

Recycle Bin still counts until you empty it. Hibernation files, page files, and shadow copies can be large. WinDirStat's README lists Windows maintenance shortcuts next to the scan: Disk Cleanup, Programs and Features, and related tools. Use those when the hog is a Windows feature, not a file you dropped in Downloads. User profiles you no longer log into are another quiet hog. Confirm before you remove a profile.

Duplicates by hash sit in this version of the app. Two copies of the same ISO in two folders will show. Keep one. That is a storage check, not a backup strategy. If both copies are the backup, pick a disk that is not C: and move them after you confirm the hash match.

Cleanup that is still a choice

The scan does not delete for you. You pick the item. Open it if you need to see what it is. Copy the path if you want to paste it into a note. Show in Explorer if you want the normal Windows delete dialog. Move if you have a second drive with room. Empty a folder when the contents are junk and the folder name can stay. Empty Recycle Bin when you already decided.

Play the result once in the sense that you look at free space again. Settings, This PC, or a refresh of the same scan. If free space barely moved, you deleted something small while a larger folder is still sitting there. Go back to the top of the directory list. The next row down is the next candidate. Do not start over from a random deep folder because the treemap looked busy.

If the disk is an SSD that "feels full" at 80 percent, that can still be a performance habit, not a crisis. The check still helps. You want headroom for Windows updates and for files you will save this week. A scan that finds 20 GB in Downloads is enough headroom for a lot of weeks. A scan that finds the hog in a folder you must keep means you need a second disk, not a more aggressive delete.

What this check will not do

It will not clean a phone. It will not scan a Mac. It will not replace cloud storage dashboards. The source has to be a drive or folder Windows can see on this PC. If the files live only in a browser tab, that is not this job.

It will not rank brands. Official WizTree can sit first for people who typed that name. Disk analyzer vs WizTree is the comparison. This page stays on the Windows scan we document and the full-disk question you typed.

It will not invent a number for how long a scan takes. Drive size, file count, and how busy the disk is all change that. Wait until the views settle. Stopping early leaves a half map, which is a bad time to delete.

How do I check storage on a PC?

Install with the command on this page, or pick the Windows file from GitHub Releases. Open WinDirStat. Scan a drive or a folder. Read the directory list and the treemap. Delete or move what you no longer need. This site does not host the installer. Files stay on GitHub.

What is the winget command to check storage on a PC?

Paste winget install -e --id WinDirStat.WinDirStat from the box on this page. That is the live command. The msi or portable path is GitHub Releases if you want the file in a folder you pick.

Can I check storage on a PC without scanning the whole drive?

Yes. Pick a folder instead of every local drive. That is useful when you already know the hog is inside one tree. A full C: scan is the right first pass when you only know the bar is red.

Does checking storage on a PC upload my files?

No. The scan runs on this Windows machine. WinDirStat reads the drive in front of you. We do not host the installer. Files stay on GitHub.

Did you make this check storage on PC tool?

No. This site only points at GitHub. The WinDirStat team publishes WinDirStat under GPL v2. Official files live on GitHub Releases. Skip Softonic, CNET, SourceForge wraps, and unofficial wrappers.

Related jobs: Disk analyzer, Disk analyzer vs WizTree, Disk Space Analyzer Download Safe, Open Source Disk Space Analyzer Releases. File host: GitHub Releases. Install button on the home page.