how to find your biggest files so you can delete them without needing extra software - windows quick and easy technique

Go from red to green – Find and Delete Big Files in Windows

I admit it – My computer is a huge mess of files. Which wouldn’t be so bad except that I have little or no room left on my hard drive – when I check it in my C: drive is red! So, I need to get rid of files by deleting them or moving them to an external backup.

All very well but I’ll get the best ‘bangs for my buck’ if I can find and manage the really big files. But how to do this and please don’t tell me I need to install a new program to do that! Well, luckily in Windows, you don’t.

Here’s how to find your biggest files:

  • -Press Windows key + F to launch Windows search dialog.
  • -In the top right corner type size:gigantic and press Enter
  • -Wait
  • -Wait some more

Windows-how-to-find-your-biggest-files-3
Because I don’t index my drive it takes a little while but the result is an ordered list of your biggest files from biggest to a little less big. You can now delete or move any files you no longer need. BUT beware! If you don’t know what a file is – DON’T delete it! If it is a Windows file you could wind up with a computer that no longer works.

I was really surprised what I found. Heaps and heaps of old backups that I make before I go on holidays each year and which were just sitting there. And a full 22Gb in a single screen recording that I had already edited and rendered and certainly did not need! In just a few minutes my disk is back to a happy green color and, once I’ve finished telling you all about my success, I’m off back to work.

search for and remove oversize files in Windows

Be careful, if you didn’t create a file, don’t delete it. Files like Pagefile.sys shown here belongs to Windows and SHOULD NOT BE DELETED.