A PowerToys Run plugin and a native Windows Command Palette extension that brings TreeSize-like disk usage analysis directly into your launcher β plus a full standalone GUI window. Instantly explore drive and folder sizes without leaving your keyboard.
π Visit the Official DiskAnalyzer Website
winget install ValleySoft.DiskAnalyzerOr download the MSIX directly from the Microsoft Store.
This project ships three tools, bundled into two easy installations:
| Component | Installation Method | How to trigger |
|---|---|---|
| Standalone App (WinUI 3) & Command Palette Extension | Install the .msix package |
Launch from Start Menu or open Windows Command Palette |
| PowerToys Run Plugin | Install the .exe installer |
Open PowerToys Run (Alt+Space) and type ds keyword |
- π© Interactive Donut Chart & Visual Bar Charts: Dynamically visualize folder distribution, scale smoothly across window resizes, and tap slices to drill in
- π Top 100 Largest Files Tab: Multithreaded whole-drive scan isolating the 100 largest files (including
pagefile.sys,hiberfil.sys, and system files) - π Old & Large Files Filter: One-click toolbar toggle isolating files >100 MB not modified in 12+ months with live badge count
- ποΈ Send to Recycle Bin: Context menu action to safely send files or directories to the Windows Recycle Bin with a confirmation dialog
- πΎ Export CSV: Export complete disk analysis results to formatted
.csvfiles (with Admin elevation save dialog fallback) - π Windows File Explorer Context Menu: Right-click any folder or drive in Windows Explorer and click "Analyze with DiskAnalyzer" to scan directly
- πΌοΈ Crisp Executable Icons: True high-fidelity icon extraction (
ExtractIconEx) for.exeand.dllbinaries - β Microsoft Store Rating Prompt: Professional, non-intrusive rating dialog after 3 completed scans
- π Live Item Count Status Bar: Real-time status bar displaying exact item counts (e.g.
212 items) - ποΈ Deep Byte-for-Byte Scanning: Scan any drive or folder with CPU-aware parallel threading
- β¬ οΈ Breadcrumbs & Navigation: Interactive address bar and back/forward history navigation
- π Safe & Read-Only: High-speed disk analysis with zero data deletion risk
- βοΈ Native Extension Settings: Native
CommandProvider.Settingsintegration for "Show Hidden Files" and "Max Scan Depth" controls - π 3 Top-Level Shortcuts: Direct entries for Command Palette View, Standalone App, and PowerToys Run
- π Async Background Queries: Non-blocking background disk scans with live progress rendering (
MOAPPLICATION_HANGresilient) - π In-Palette Drill-Down: Explore subfolders directly inside Command Palette with an "Up one level" return item
- π Recent Scans History (
ds recent): Quick access to recent scan targets stored persistently in user profile - π Richer Result Subtitles: Formats both total size and item count (e.g.
42.3 GB Β· 15,823 items) - β¨οΈ Full Keyboard Navigation:
Enterto drill down,Backspaceto go up one level, andF5to refresh/rescan in GUI - π Collapsible Donut Side Panel: Toggleable side panel in floating GUI window featuring a visual donut chart
- π¨ Live System Theme Sync: Dynamically responds to system dark/light theme switches without restarting
- β High-Contrast Usage Bars: Unicode contrast blocks (
β/β) ensuring high legibility across dark and light themes - π₯οΈ List all drives with used / free / total space and a visual usage bar
- π Browse any folder β subfolders and files ranked by size
- π Recursively find the largest files inside any path
- π Show top-level subdirectories ranked by total size
- π Filter files by extension (e.g. find all
.mp4files) - π Find empty folders inside any path
- πͺ Launch the full standalone GUI window with
ds gui - β‘ High-speed caching for instant query responses
Launch DiskAnalyzer from your Windows Start Menu to access the full standalone experience.
Note: Enabling the "Always Run as Administrator" toggle is only required the first time. The app will automatically save your preference for all future launches!
- Microsoft PowerToys v0.97.0 or later
- Windows 10 / 11 (x64 or ARM64)
- .NET 10 Runtime (included with PowerToys)
- Download
ValleySoft.DiskAnalyzer.App_1.5.0_x64.msix(orarm64) from Releases - Double-click the
.msixfile β Windows will launch the installer - Click Install (or Update)
- You're done! The Standalone App will be in your Start Menu, and the Command Palette Extension will automatically be registered in the Windows Command Palette.
π‘ Troubleshooting Certificate Verification (Error 0x800B010A): Because this MSIX is a sideloading release signed with a self-signed certificate, Windows requires you to install the certificate once before installing the app:
- Download
ValleySoft.cerfrom the Releases assets.- Right-click the
.cerfile and select Install Certificate.- Select Local Machine, click Next.
- Choose Place all certificates in the following store, click Browse, select Trusted People, click OK.
- Click Next, then Finish. Now double-click the
.msixfile to install the app cleanly!
Recommended: The Microsoft Store is the easiest way to install and keep the app automatically updated!
Alternatively, you can install it instantly via the command line using
winget:winget install --id 9NF073KLTVWN --source msstore
- Download
ValleySoft.DiskAnalyzerInstaller-v1.5.0-x64.exe(orarm64) from Releases - Exit PowerToys completely β Right-click the PowerToys icon in the system tray β Exit
- Run the installer β it will automatically extract and copy plugin files to:
%LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\PowerToys\PowerToys Run\Plugins\DiskAnalyzer\ - Restart PowerToys from the Start menu
- Enable the plugin β Open PowerToys Settings β PowerToys Run β Plugins β find DiskAnalyzer β toggle ON
- Download the ZIP from Releases
- Exit PowerToys completely
- Extract the ZIP to:
%LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\PowerToys\PowerToys Run\Plugins\DiskAnalyzer\ - Restart PowerToys and enable the plugin in Settings
Note: The unified MSIX package (Standalone App + Command Palette) is self-signed for open-source sideloading. To install it, you must either:
- Enable Developer Mode in Windows Settings β System β For developers.
- Or manually trust the certificate by downloading
ValleySoft.cerfrom the Releases page, double-clicking it, clicking Install Certificate, selecting Local Machine, and placing it in the Trusted Root Certification Authorities store.
Requires .NET 10 SDK.
git clone https://github.com/valley-soft/powertoys-diskanalyzer.git
cd powertoys-diskanalyzer
.\build-v1.5.0.ps1
# Installers and MSIX packages appear in out\Open PowerToys Run (Alt+Space) and type ds followed by a command.
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
ds |
Show help and all available commands |
ds drives |
List all drives with used / free / total space and a usage bar |
ds recent |
Show last 5 scanned paths for instant re-scan |
ds C:\ |
Scan a folder β shows subfolders and files sorted by size |
ds C:\Users\Photos |
Drill into any subfolder |
ds largest C:\ |
Find the largest files recursively inside a path |
ds top C:\ |
Show top-level subfolders ranked by total size |
ds ext C:\ .mp4 |
Find the largest files of a specific extension |
ds empty C:\ |
Find empty folders inside a path |
ds gui |
Open the WinUI 3 Standalone GUI window |
ds gui C:\Users |
Open the WinUI 3 Standalone GUI window pre-navigated to a specific folder |
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
Ctrl+O |
Open in File Explorer |
Ctrl+C |
Copy path to clipboard |
Ctrl+Shift+C |
Copy size to clipboard |
Ctrl+Enter |
Drill down into the selected folder |
Ctrl+L |
Find largest files inside the selected folder |
- Clicking a folder result automatically prefills
ds <path>so you can keep drilling down - Paths with spaces are supported β wrap them in quotes:
ds "C:\My Folder" - Results are cached for 10 seconds to avoid redundant re-scans
- The
ds guiwindow works independently β you can close PowerToys Run after launching it
Open the Windows Command Palette and click ValleySoft Disk Analyzer (or search for it). Then type directly:
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
drives |
List all drives with used / free / total space |
top C:\ |
Top-level folders ranked by size |
largest C:\ |
Find the largest files recursively |
ext C:\ .mp4 |
Find largest files of a specific extension |
empty C:\ |
Find empty folders |
C:\Users |
Scan any absolute folder path β ranked by size |
Results appear as you type β scanning runs in the background with a Scanningβ¦ placeholder and updates automatically when done. Click any result to drill down interactively.
Launch DiskAnalyzer from your Windows Start Menu.
| Action | How |
|---|---|
| Scan a drive | Click the drive letter from the dropdown or sidebar |
| Pick a custom folder | Click Browse... to pick any folder on your PC |
| View bar charts | Switch to the Visual Chart tab in the main pivot |
| View donut charts | Switch to the Donut Chart tab to inspect folder space distribution (click slice to drill in) |
| Find top 100 largest files | Switch to the Top Files tab and click Scan for Top Files |
| Filter old & large files | Toggle the π Old & Large toolbar button (>100 MB, modified 12+ months ago) |
| Drill into a subfolder | Double-click any folder row in the data grid or tap chart slices |
| Reveal a file | Double-click any file row β opens File Explorer |
| Send to Recycle Bin | Right-click any row in the grid and select Send to Recycle Bin |
| Export to CSV | Click Export CSV (includes numeric bytes for 100% accurate Excel sorting) |
| Go back | Click the β Back button or use the breadcrumb trail |
| Rescan current view | Click the Refresh button |
| Sort columns | Click any column header (Size/Allocated sort correctly by bytes) |
Configure in PowerToys Settings β PowerToys Run β Plugins β DiskAnalyzer.
| Setting | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Maximum results | 15 | Number of items to display (5β50) |
| Default scan depth | 1 | How many levels deep to scan (1β5) |
| Include hidden files | Off | Include items with the Hidden attribute |
| Show percentage of parent | On | Display what % of the parent each item uses |
Configure directly inside Windows Command Palette settings.
| Setting | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Show Hidden Files | On | Include files and folders with the Hidden attribute |
| Max Scan Depth | 0 (Unlimited) | Limit scan recursion depth (0 = unlimited, 1β10) |
| File / Folder | Purpose |
|---|---|
Main.cs |
Plugin entry point β handles queries, results, and context menus |
Core/ |
Shared class library containing the disk scanning engine |
Standalone App/ |
WinUI 3 standalone application |
DiskAnalyzerWindow.xaml / .cs |
Legacy standalone GUI window (WPF) triggered via ds gui |
plugin.json |
PowerToys metadata (name, keyword, version, icons) |
docs/Images/ |
README screenshots |
Images/ |
Plugin icon assets (DiskAnalyzerLight.png / DiskAnalyzerDark.png) |
CmdPalExtension/ |
Native Command Palette MSIX extension project |
Installer/ |
Single-file native installer source |
build-v1.5.0.ps1 |
Build script β compiles PT Run plugin + CmdPal MSIX + Standalone MSIX for x64 & ARM64 |
out/ |
Final output directory for all generated artifacts |
Looking to see what's coming next? Check out our official Project Roadmap for our bi-weekly release schedule and upcoming features!
- π© Interactive Donut Chart: Added a dedicated Donut Chart tab in the Standalone App to visualize folder space distribution with responsive scaling, Fluent accent colors, center total size display, and tap-to-drill-down navigation.
- π Top 100 Largest Files Tab: Added a dedicated Top Files tab that multithreadedly scans the entire drive/root to surface the 100 largest files with early size pruning and root-level system files (
pagefile.sys,hiberfil.sys,swapfile.sys) support. - π Large & Old Files Quick Filter: Added a one-click toolbar toggle filter button to instantly isolate files larger than 100 MB not modified in the last 12 months with a live match count badge.
- ποΈ Send to Recycle Bin: Added a right-click context menu option in the results grid to safely move files or folders to the Windows Recycle Bin with a confirmation dialog and dynamic list updates.
- π PowerToys Run Recent Scans (
ds recent): Added a history mechanism to PowerToys Run storing the last 5 scanned paths for instant 1-click re-scanning. - π Richer Result Subtitles: PowerToys Run query results now show both total size and formatted item counts (e.g.
42.3 GB Β· 15,823 items). - β¨οΈ PowerToys Run Full Keyboard Navigation: Added complete keyboard accessibility to the floating GUI (
Enterto drill down,Backspaceto navigate up one level, andF5to refresh/rescan). - π PowerToys Run Collapsible Donut Panel: Added a toggleable side chart panel in the PowerToys Run GUI window featuring a high-contrast visual donut chart.
- π¨ Live Theme Synchronization: Added dynamic system theme tracking (
UserPreferenceChanged) to the PowerToys Run GUI, instantly switching between dark and light themes without requiring an app restart. - β High-Contrast Shaded Usage Bars: Redesigned PowerToys Run mini usage progress bars (
DiskAnalyzerHelper.CreateMiniBar) using unicode contrast blocks (β/β) ensuring clear visibility across dark and light modes. - βοΈ Native Command Palette Settings: Replaced placeholder settings with native
CommandProvider.Settingsintegration, introducing persistent "Show Hidden Files" and "Max Scan Depth" controls. - β‘ Command Palette Asynchronous Loading: Command Palette extension now streams and queries results asynchronously in the background, eliminating UI freezes and maintaining launcher responsiveness.
- πΎ Enhanced Excel-Sortable CSV Export: Export formatted
.csvfiles including unquoted numericSize (Bytes)andAllocated Size (Bytes)columns with UTF-8 BOM encoding for direct numeric sorting and formula calculations in Microsoft Excel.
- π Bar Chart Dynamic Scaling & Horizontal Scrolling: Fixed bar chart item clipping on smaller displays by adding horizontal scrolling and dynamic bar height scaling.
- π‘οΈ Drill-Down Tap Safety: Prevented aggregate "Other (N items)" summary bars from triggering invalid navigation while maintaining tap-to-drill-down on all named item slices and bars.
- π§Ή Clean Command Palette Provider Registration: Purged stale ghost provider cache entries for a clean single-entry settings experience.
- π Modernized Standalone Help Page: Fully refreshed Help and Features documentation detailing Donut Charts, Top Files, Old & Large filtering, Recycle Bin integration, and launcher commands.
- π Windows File Explorer Context Menu: Added "Analyze with DiskAnalyzer" right-click context menu item with official application icon for all directories, drives, and folder backgrounds.
- β Microsoft Store Rating Dialog: Integrated non-intrusive, professional WinUI 3 rating prompt after 3 completed scans.
- πΌοΈ Crisp Executable File Icon Extraction: Added native Win32
ExtractIconExshell extraction for.exeand.dllfiles in the main DataGrid view. - π¨ Command Palette Top-Level Shortcuts: Restored all 3 explicit top-level Command Palette entries: (Command Palette), (Standalone App), and (PowerToys Run).
- π Dynamic CSV Button State: Export CSV button starts greyed out (disabled) on launch and while scanning, enabling automatically only after a drive or folder scan completes.
- π Live Status Bar & Vibrant Colors: Added live item count status bar (e.g.
212 items) and vibrant Fluent category breakdown colors. - π Interactive Visual Chart & "Other Items" Bar: Added Top 15 largest items visual chart with aggregate "Other (N items)" summary bar and direct tap-to-drill-down navigation.
- β‘ Scan Engine Performance & Resource Tuning:
- Capped parallel Degree of Parallelism (DOP) to half CPU cores with O(1) file type breakdown lookups.
- 87.0% performance improvement (reduction in overhead) for file extension category mapping.
- 6.8% faster scanning speed compared to v1.3.7.
- 50% reduced CPU utilization and ~30% reduced RAM allocation footprint during active directory scans.
- π‘οΈ Zero-Crash Telemetry Fixes: Eliminated
MOAPPLICATION_HANGwatchdog and WinUI Composition composition thread-safety crash bugs. - π Admin Elevation CSV Export: Added native
comdlg32.dllP/Invoke save dialog fallback for 100% reliable CSV saves in Admin mode or packaged app UAC boundaries. - β‘ Expanded DataGrid Name Column Width: Set default minimum width of 350px for the Name column so file names are never truncated.
- π Real-Time Live Search Filter: Wired up text-changed event handler for instant keyword and extension (
*.mp4,*.exe) filtering. - βοΈ PowerToys Run Plugin Sync: Resolved process locking issues during deployment script so
plugin.jsonupdates cleanly to v1.4.0.
- π οΈ Locked Drive Crash Fix: Resolved a bug where scanning or showing drive listings would crash the app if a drive was locked by BitLocker or had restricted access permissions.
- π οΈ Background Process Cleanup: Fixed an issue where the Command Palette extension remained running in the background after closing, ensuring it shuts down cleanly and saves system resources.
- π οΈ Windows Insider Compatibility: Added fallbacks and exception protections to prevent launch crashes for users running preview Windows 11 Insider builds (build 26300+).
- π οΈ Folder Icon Load Fix: Fixed a bug where folder and file icons occasionally failed to load or caused background crashes, ensuring icons load reliably on the main screen.
- π οΈ Clipboard Copy Protection: Fixed a random crash in PowerToys Run when copying file paths to the clipboard while another app had the clipboard locked.
- π¦ Visual Theme Asset Fix: Fixed a packaging bug that caused light/dark mode icons and different scale sizes to be missing from installer builds.
- π¨ About Page Layout Centering: Centered and resized the About page content so it looks clean, centered, and proportional on all window sizes (including maximized windows).
- πͺ Insider Preview Warning Banner: Added a helpful informational banner at startup to warn Windows Insider users about potential pre-release compatibility issues.
- β‘ Scanning Stability Improvement: Fixed a scanning race condition that caused occasional crashes when exploring complex directory structures.
- β‘ Interface Lag & Freeze Mitigation: Offloaded heavy folder information lookups to background tasks and regulated progress bar updates to keep the main window smooth and responsive.
- π§Ή Clean Production Release: Stripped developer test paths and cleaned up file logging for a safer and more stable production install.
- π οΈ Fixed: Fixed a bug where scanning the drives list would instantly crash the Command Palette extension if a drive was locked by BitLocker or otherwise inaccessible.
- π οΈ Fixed: Fixed a major issue causing the Command Palette extension to stay alive in the background and refuse to suspend (HANG_QUIESCE).
- π¦ Fixed: Fixed the installer displaying the wrong version and title in its UI.
- β¨ New: Added a right-click context menu to the scan grid (Open in Explorer, Copy Path).
- β¨ New: Added an editable address bar (double-click the breadcrumbs to type or paste any directory path).
- β¨ New: Added an "Up one level" option and keyboard shortcuts to the Command Palette extension.
- π¦ Fixed: Completely separated the PowerToys Run Plugin (.exe installer) from the Standalone App and Command Palette (.msix) to prevent conflicts.
- π οΈ Fixed: Resolved manual MSIX installation certificate verification errors (
0x800B010A). - π Fixed: Restored smooth, continuous real-time progress updates in the scanning grid.
- π οΈ Fixed: Fixed random application crashes when scanning deep or highly complex folder trees.
- π Fixed: Prevented startup UI freezes by moving drive scans and icon loading to background threads.
- π§Ή Fixed: Fixed resource cleanup bugs to prevent memory leaks during long scan sessions.
- π‘οΈ Fixed: Removed unnecessary app permission requirements for improved security and privacy.
- βΏ Fixed: Added screen-reader tags to navigation buttons.
- β¨ New: Completely redesigned the Standalone App's Help & Features section using a native WinUI
NavigationViewfor a premium experience. - β¨ New: Added a dedicated About page featuring the app version, copyright, and direct GitHub links.
- β¨ New: Updated navigation icons.
- π οΈ Fixed: Fixed a bug where the "Always Run as Administrator" toggle was incorrectly disabled when running elevated.
- β¨ New: Added an "Always Run as Administrator" toggle to the Standalone App's File menu, which automatically saves your preference and natively relaunches the app via UAC.
- β¨ New: Live UI Streaming β The Standalone App now populates folders incrementally in real-time as the scan progresses, exactly like TreeSize Free!
- π Extreme Performance Optimization: Refactored the core scanning engine to eliminate blocking array allocations and bypass millions of heavy P/Invoke and string operations. SSD scanning speeds have been radically improved, effectively resolving UI hangs and slow scans.
- π‘οΈ Admin Integration: Restructured the app manifests so that elevated privileges are optional via the UI toggle instead of forcing UAC prompts on every launch.
- β¨ New: Fully featured Standalone WinUI 3 App with a beautiful visual Bar Chart for deeper disk analysis!
- π¦ New: Unified Installer features a flawless 1-click Clean Install mode, automatically purging old DLLs from
%LOCALAPPDATA%to prevent version conflicts. - π¦ New: Unified the Command Palette Extension and Standalone App into a single MSIX package for seamless Microsoft Store distribution.
- π·οΈ New: Completely separated and distinct display names for the Standalone App, Command Palette Extension, and PowerToys Run plugin to eliminate confusion.
- π Performance: Upgraded the Core project and shared logic to .NET 10.0 for maximum performance and modern API support.
- ποΈ Architecture: Extracted the shared core scanning engine into a perfectly synchronized standard, improving accuracy and maintainability.
- π§Ή Cleanup: Deeply cleaned the repository, permanently ignoring and removing old legacy build artifacts.
- π οΈ Fixed: PowerToys Run
AssemblyLoadContextbug completely resolved! Core logic is now natively compiled directly into the plugin instead of usingProjectReference. - π οΈ Fixed: Standalone App sizes and calculations rigorously synced with Windows Explorer to ensure accurate byte-for-byte size reporting.
- π οΈ Fixed: Resolved hidden files straggler toggles in XAML and WPF; hidden system files are now properly counted and interactable.
- π οΈ Fixed: Fixed severe junction point infinite loop bugs in the directory scanner.
- β¨ New: Native Command Palette MSIX Extension β type commands directly in CmdPal without a keyword (featuring async background scanning and interactive drill-down).
- β¨ New: Standalone GUI window (
ds gui) with full drive/folder tree explorer, expandable tree pane, sortable grid, Back navigation, folder picker, and Refresh. - β¨ New:
ds ext <path> <extension>β find largest files by extension. - β¨ New:
ds empty <path>β find empty folders. - β¨ New: ARM64 support β separate installer and MSIX for ARM64 devices.
- β¨ New: PowerToys Run plugin labeled DiskAnalyzer (PowerToys Run) in CmdPal to distinguish from the MSIX extension.
- π οΈ Fixed: Disk used space now matches Windows Explorer exactly.
- π οΈ Fixed: Folder size calculation uses queue-based BFS (avoids reparse points).
- π¦ New: Single-file native
.exeinstaller for both x64 and ARM64. - π¦ New: MSIX packages for Command Palette extension (x64 and ARM64).
- Updated target framework to net10.0-windows
- Fixed missing plugin icons in PowerToys settings
- Added allocated on-disk size to scan results
- Improved scanning performance with parallel processing
- Updated target framework to net9.0-windows
- Updated Community.PowerToys.Run.Plugin.Dependencies to v0.97.0
- Compatible with PowerToys v0.97.0 and later
- π οΈ Fixed: Mouse click on results removing the
dsprefix. - π οΈ Fixed: Double
dsappearing in search bar after selecting a result. - π οΈ Fixed: iCloud and OneDrive showing allocated size instead of actual size.
- π οΈ Fixed: Folder sizes not fully recursive (capped at 1 level deep).
- π οΈ Fixed: Missing string interpolations and prefixes in
ChangeQuerycalls.
- Moved "Open in Explorer" shortcut to
Ctrl+Ocontext menu. - Fixed a bug where pressing Enter on a drive result opened File Explorer instead of starting a scan.
- Initial release
- List drives with used / free / total space
- Browse folder sizes ranked by largest
- Recursive largest file/folder search
- Cloud folder support (iCloud, OneDrive)
For support, feedback, or business inquiries, please reach out via email: π§ valleysoftdev29@gmail.com
MIT Β© ValleySoft















