Record a folder’s size, check it again later, and compare the difference. To understand the reason behind that difference, keep additions and removals alongside the net change.
Choose one folder to follow.
Start with a question you can answer: “How much is this project growing?” is more useful than “Where did all my space go?” Choose a folder you recognize and keep the scope consistent.
On Mac, select it in Finder and choose File → Get Info. On Windows, right-click it in File Explorer and choose Properties. Record the folder’s size, its location, and the time of the check.
If you track both a folder and its parent drive, avoid adding their totals together. The folder is already part of the drive, so that would count the same files twice.
Compare two checks, not two different totals.
Check the same folder after a work session or the following day. Compare the same kind of size reading both times. Drive capacity, file size, and space used on disk can differ.
| Check | Folder size |
|---|---|
| Monday morning | 24 GB |
| Tuesday morning | 32 GB |
| Net change | +8 GB |
The folder grew by 8 GB between those checks. That doesn’t tell you whether you added one large file or added and removed many files. Open the folder and investigate the files behind the total.
Read additions and removals together.
Net change is what remains after removals offset additions. In the example below, Tuesday has 10.4 GB added and 2.4 GB removed, leaving 8 GB of growth. Select another day to see a different pattern.
Illustrative history. These numbers don’t come from your computer.
This is why a nearly unchanged total can still hide a busy day. Adding 5 GB and removing 5 GB produces zero net growth, but both events may matter when you investigate your workflow.
Moving files between tracked folders can also appear as a removal in one and an addition in the other. Folder history helps you inspect those observations; it does not, by itself, establish that they were the same files.
Build a history you can return to.
Manual notes work well for an occasional comparison. For recurring questions, DiskEzy for Mac and DiskEzy for Windows record changes across repeated checks of your selected locations.
- Choose the folder or drive you want to understand.
- Let the first check finish to establish a starting point.
- Keep the app running for later checks.
- Open a day’s history and follow the folders behind its totals.
Your measured history begins when tracking starts. It isn’t a complete record of earlier activity, and a file created and removed between checks may never appear. Keep that in mind when comparing the results with everything that happened during a day.
For drive-wide questions, start with the Mac storage guide or the Windows storage guide.