Viewing the total size of all files that have been deleted to Recycle Bin in the good old Windows XP was a dead-simple task. In Windows XP, the Status bar would show the total size of all files in the Recycle Bin when you select all files.
Unfortunately, none of the recent versions of Windows, including Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 10 show the total size of all files in the Recycle Bin when you select all the files in the Recycle Bin. The status bar shows only the total number files that you have selected.
In order to view the total size in recent versions of Windows, you need to right-click on the system drive (Windows installed drive), select Properties, and then perform a disk cleanup task.
Fortunately, users who have updated to Windows 8.1 Update can view the total size of all files located in Recycle Bin without having to open Disk Cleanup tool. However, unlike Windows XP, Windows 8.1 Update doesn’t show the total size when you select all files in Recycle Bin, and instead, you need to navigate to PC settings to get the information.
Check the total size of all files in the Recycle Bin
NOTE: This method applies to Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 versions only.
Follow the given below instructions to see the size of all files in the Recycle Bin:
Step 1: Open PC settings. To do this, you can either click or tap the PC settings tile on the Start screen, or type PC settings on the Start screen and then press enter key to open the same.
Alternatively, you can open the same by moving mouse cursor to the top or bottom right corner of the screen (to see the Charms bar), clicking Settings, and finally, clicking Change PC settings.
Step 2: In the left pane of PC settings, click PC and devices.
Step 3: Again, in the left pane, under PC and devices, click the option titled Disk space to see the total size of all files in the Recycle Bin on the right-side under the section titled Recycle Bin.
Here, as you can see in the above picture, one can empty Recycle Bin to delete all files from Recycle Bin. How to enable/disable delete confirmation dialog box in Windows 8/8.1 guide might also interest you.
uldics says
This is one of many reasons I no more use Windows on my private PCs. So simple need with so complex solution.
Kowalsky says
Thank’s man! This is just what I was looking for. Why they (MS company) destroy what is good and working? A simple thing info on the the bottom at the status bar, now is missing :/
Ken says
The size you are given of the recycle bin, does not include folders and their contents. It only includes files at the root level of the recycle bin. In my recycle bin a have a folder that is 18GB. When I look at the size of the recycle bin in the above two methods it only shows a size of 672 MB, which is the size of only my files in the root of the recycle bin.
Robert Prideaux says
I am very impressed with your site. As a survivor (rather than veteran…) of 42 years in IT(16 as a MS Partner), I still see tips and tricks that I can use.
Keep up the good work