Microsoft has added a new built-in command line tool called DiskUsage to Insider builds of Windows 10 (opens in new tab) that reports how much disk space folders use.
As first reported (opens in new tab) by BleepingComputer, the news outlet discovered the new utility when testing Windows Insider builds 20277 and 21277. DiskUsage is capable of scanning entire drives or specified folders and reporting how much drive space each folder is using.
The utility is located in System 32 and is still in the early stages of development. Currently some features are now working as expected and there are even some spelling errors in the the DiskUsage's instructions.
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Still though, admins may find it useful to analyze disk space from terminal windows though most Windows users will likely continue using popular tools such as WizTree or TreeSize (opens in new tab).
DiskUsage
As DiskUsage is still in development by Microsoft, the tool currently reports file and folder sizes in bytes as opposed to doing so in megabytes or gigabytes. However, the software giant has included a /h argument to display file and folder sizes in a more conventional way.
It's also worth noting that DiskUsage requires administrative privileges so Windows Insiders (opens in new tab) that want to test it out for themselves will need to open an elevated command prompt in Windows 10 before running the tool or else it will display an error.
The tool can be used for general disk space scans but users can also configure it to say, display all of the folders on a drive that are larger that 1GB in size. DiskUsage also includes other features such as creating configuration files with the options you want to use automatically, output customization and the ability to skip over certain folders depending on their type.
We'll likely hear more about DiskUsage from Microsoft itself once the company is ready to ship the tool in an upcoming Windows 10 release. For now though, Windows Insiders running builds 20277 and 21277 can begin experimenting with it.
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Via BleepingComputer (opens in new tab)
