Shows a different file size when hovering as opposed to properties.


  1. Posts : 50
    Windows 10
       #1

    Shows a different file size when hovering as opposed to properties.


    This is an issue I just discovered. I have a folder on my desktop that is 10.8GB. It has many files and folders inside of it. When I hover my mouse over it, it shows the correct total size of the contents of the folder i.e. 10.8GB. However, if I right click the folder and go to properties, it only shows 5.67GB. It's doing this because it's not counting all the files and folders. In properties it only lists about half of the total files and folders for some reason.

    I have dragged this folder onto an external drive and then right clicked it from there and it shows the correct size from that drive, but not the drive my OS is on.

    I really want to like Windows 10, but only a few days into using it and I am having lots of issues, and I haven't even done anything on the computer yet. I'm still just trying to get all my programs and files moved over.
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 2,487
    Windows 10 Home, 64-bit
       #2

    I see that type of stuff too, but I also saw it in Windows 7. I've just learned not to take reported file sizes or file counts seriously.

    I've never made a study of it, but I've always wondered to what extent DIR /s from a command prompt agrees or conflicts with what File Explorer reports.
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 50
    Windows 10
    Thread Starter
       #3

    It seems this is a bug that appeared in a recent update. https://social.technet.microsoft.com...10itprogeneral
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 31,660
    10 Home x64 (22H2) (10 Pro on 2nd pc)
       #4

    22878 said:
    I have a folder on my desktop that is 10.8GB. It has many files and folders inside of it. When I hover my mouse over it, it shows the correct total size of the contents of the folder i.e. 10.8GB. However, if I right click the folder and go to properties, it only shows 5.67GB. It's doing this because it's not counting all the files and folders. In properties it only lists about half of the total files and folders for some reason.
    Welcome to TenForums @22878

    The reason is permissions. You do not have access to some of the folders there, and when Properties is counting the files it is doing so with your security permissions. It cannot count the files in folders for which you do not have permission.

    I have dragged this folder onto an external drive and then right clicked it from there and it shows the correct size from that drive, but not the drive my OS is on.
    Just because you don't have permission to open a folder and look inside it, doesn't mean you can't copy it to somewhere else. The copies are owned by you, so you have full permission to access them. Doubly so if you copy to a usb stick, because the Fat32 format they use doesn't support file permissions anyway.

    Now you have a copy on another drive, rename the problem folder on your desktop, then copy the folder from the external drive back onto your desktop. Because you now own all the files and folders in it you should see the same size reported by hovering the mouse and by Properties.

    I really want to like Windows 10, but only a few days into using it and I am having lots of issues...
    Those permissions issues would have been exactly the same in every version of Windows, 2000, Vista, XP, 7 or 8.
      My Computers


  5. Posts : 50
    Windows 10
    Thread Starter
       #5

    Bree said:
    Welcome to TenForums @22878

    The reason is permissions. You do not have access to some of the folders there, and when Properties is counting the files it is doing so with your security permissions. It cannot count the files in folders for which you do not have permission.



    Just because you don't have permission to open a folder and look inside it, doesn't mean you can't copy it to somewhere else. The copies are owned by you, so you have full permission to access them. Doubly so if you copy to a usb stick, because the Fat32 format they use doesn't support file permissions anyway.

    Now you have a copy on another drive, rename the problem folder on your desktop, then copy the folder from the external drive back onto your desktop. Because you now own all the files and folders in it you should see the same size reported by hovering the mouse and by Properties.



    Those permissions issues would have been exactly the same in every version of Windows, 2000, Vista, XP, 7 or 8.
    I deleted the folder from my desktop. Then copied it back over from my external drive where right-click > properties shows the correct amount of files, folders, and total size, but I am having the same issue as before. If you check out that link in my last post, other users are having the same exact issue and they seem to suggest it has something to do with file name length. They say it's a bug that appeared in a recent Windows update.
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 31,660
    10 Home x64 (22H2) (10 Pro on 2nd pc)
       #6

    22878 said:
    If you check out that link in my last post, other users are having the same exact issue and they seem to suggest it has something to do with file name length. They say it's a bug that appeared in a recent Windows update.
    didn't see your link until after I posted my reply - seems to be more to do with the file path being too long rather than the filenames themselves. How deeply nested are the sub-folders in this folder of yours? Lots of long names for the sub-folders? How many characters in the full path to the deepest file you have there?
      My Computers


 

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