{"id":57878,"date":"2014-01-15T10:00:32","date_gmt":"2014-01-15T08:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/onsoftware.en.softonic.com\/?p=57878"},"modified":"2025-07-02T00:56:57","modified_gmt":"2025-07-02T07:56:57","slug":"free-up-some-disk-space-with-spacesniffer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/free-up-some-disk-space-with-spacesniffer\/","title":{"rendered":"Free up some disk space with SpaceSniffer"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sometimes it seems as if hard drives fill up\u00a0by themselves; an installation here, a back up there, and the amount of free space disappears in the blink of an eye.<\/p>\n

But the worst part isn’t\u00a0discovering the lost space. Rather, it’s not knowing where it’s been lost, and finding the files that take up the most space can be a daunting task.<\/p>\n

Luckily, there’s SpaceSniffer<\/a>, a visualizer that helps you identify, in seconds, which files and folders are taking up space on your hard drive.<\/p>\n

Going folder by folder is impractical<\/h3>\n

\"Windows<\/p>\n

What’s the first thing you do when you want to see how much space a folder’s occupying? Right click on its icon, choose Properties <\/strong>and see how much space it occupies.<\/p>\n

Sure, its an option, but it’s pretty impractical: a PC with hundreds of installed applications can have thousands of folders, and you can’t open every single folder to see which one takes up the most space\u2013 you’d go crazy.<\/p>\n

The secret’s in the (tree) map<\/h3>\n

There’s a better representation of file and folder size and type than individual checks: \u00a0treemaps. This is what a typical treemap looks like:<\/p>\n

\"SpaceSniffer<\/p>\n

Tree maps often use colors to add information<\/em><\/p>\n

A tree map is a rectangle cut into pieces of proportional size. It’s like a cake cut it into pieces that reflect the size of each portion.<\/p>\n

In the case of a hard drive, the graphic represents the sizes of files and folders, with the biggest ones occupying a proportionally larger area.<\/p>\n

SpaceSniffer create maps of your hard drive<\/h3>\n

Spacesniffer scans your hard drive and creates tree\u00a0maps of your files, maps that help you\u00a0identify which folders take up the most space.<\/p>\n

But SpaceSniffer isn’t limited to just drawing maps. Among other things, it helps you:<\/p>\n