disk-insight is a local-only Windows disk usage viewer for inspecting where storage is used. It reads NTFS MFT data for fast scanning and helps you find large folders and files in a tree-first view for cautious manual review. It has no network communication or telemetry and does not perform automatic cleanup.
v1.0.0 is available as a GitHub release for Windows x64.
- Open the v1.0.0 GitHub release.
- Under Assets, download
disk-insight-v1.0.0-windows-x64.zip. - Extract the ZIP and run
disk-insight-ui.exe.
It is a portable ZIP: there is no installer, and uninstalling means deleting
the extracted folder. App-managed data is written only to
%LOCALAPPDATA%\disk-insight\.
Run as Administrator for full NTFS MFT scan access. Non-administrator launch is possible, but some scan operations may be limited.
The executable is unsigned and may trigger SmartScreen. Review the release notes and do not bypass your organization's security controls.
v1.0.0 is the first stable release. The feature set and the Normal / Advanced safety model are considered settled for the 1.x line.
Stable here means the documented behavior is what the project intends to keep supporting — not that the build is signed, broadly certified, or verified on every environment. It is developed and used by a single developer, and verification is concentrated on that environment. Review the known limitations before use.
- Fast disk usage scanning via direct NTFS MFT read
- TreeView-first navigation with lazy folder expansion
- Occupancy bar column (relative size at a glance)
- View selector: All / Large review / Reviewable areas / Caution areas
- Bookmarks (persistent across sessions, jump to folder in tree)
- Review list (session-only staging list, batch copy paths)
- Explorer handoff: Show in Explorer, Select file, Show properties
- Insights panel: largest items under selected folder, subtree search
- Drive auto-detection
- Size metric selector: Current allocation / WOF-adjusted (experimental)
- Scan progress indicator with phase labels
- Advanced Mode gated Move to Recycle Bin (see Safety model below)
The app starts in Normal Mode on every launch. No destructive file operation is shown in Normal Mode.
Advanced Mode is an explicit opt-in for a single session. It resets to OFF each time the app is closed — it is non-persistent.
- Requires manual acknowledgement before enabling
- Unlocks: Move to Recycle Bin
- Each Move to Recycle Bin action requires per-item confirmation with path, size, and risk warnings shown before proceeding
Move to Recycle Bin moves items to the Windows Recycle Bin only. It is not permanent deletion. Items in the Recycle Bin still occupy disk space until the bin is emptied.
Delete / Rename / Cut / Paste are not implemented.
- No network communication
- No telemetry or analytics
- No auto-updater
- Local-only operation
- App-managed data is written only to
%LOCALAPPDATA%\disk-insight\(scan cache and bookmarks). - File changes are not shown in Normal Mode.
- Move to Recycle Bin is available only after explicitly enabling Advanced Mode.
- Windows 10 or later
- NTFS volumes are the primary supported target. Other file systems are not the current focus and may have limited or unsupported behavior.
- Administrator privileges recommended for full MFT scan access (non-admin launch is possible but some scan operations may be limited)
- Limited environment verification: developed and used by a single developer on Windows 10/11 with NTFS volumes. Behavior on other hardware, display scaling, locales, and managed/enterprise configurations is not systematically tested
- Unsigned binary: may trigger SmartScreen on first run — expected for unsigned local tools; do not bypass security controls to run it
- NTFS-focused: NTFS is the primary supported target. Other file systems are not the current focus and may have limited or unsupported behavior.
- Administrator rights: full MFT scan requires elevated access
- Cleanup classification is path-based heuristic: Large review / Reviewable areas / Caution areas are derived from path patterns, not content analysis — they are starting points for manual review, not recommendations to delete anything
- Large review uses top scan results: only shows items present in the Top-N scan results, not all files on the drive
- Reviewable / Caution areas use loaded tree rows: only items that have been expanded in the current session are included
- No automatic cleanup: the app does not delete, move, or modify files automatically
- No move-to-folder: only Move to Recycle Bin (Advanced Mode required)
- No multi-select file operations: single-item Recycle Bin move only
- No full shell context menu: right-click shows app-defined options, not the Windows Explorer shell menu
- No dark mode: light theme only in current release
- Size estimates: values are allocation-oriented estimates and may differ from Explorer "Size" or other tools — differences are expected and bounded
- Rust with MSVC toolchain
- Node.js
- Tauri v2 prerequisites (WebView2 runtime, Visual Studio build tools)
- Windows 10 or later
# Install Node dependencies (first time)
npm install
# Development mode (hot reload, sample data loads on startup)
npm run tauri dev
# Production build
npm run tauri build
# Output: src-tauri\target\release\disk-insight-ui.exeRun the built .exe as Administrator for full MFT scan access.
In release mode, the app starts with an empty state — select a drive and
click Scan to begin.
cargo build --release
.\target\release\disk-insight.exe --drive C --top 100
.\target\release\disk-insight.exe --help
For use on a company PC, follow your organization's policy for unsigned local tools. Do not bypass Defender, EDR, AppLocker, SmartScreen, or other security controls. Use the default Normal Mode. Do not enable Advanced Mode on a company PC.
See docs/security-overview.md for the full safety posture description.
| File | Description |
|---|---|
docs/security-overview.md |
Full safety posture (Normal + Advanced model) |
docs/company-pc-dogfooding-checklist.md |
Go/No-Go checklist for company PC use |
docs/company-safe-build.md |
Company-PC dogfooding package build notes |
docs/v0.6.0-public-readiness-plan.md |
Public readiness checklist and phase plan |
This project is licensed under the MIT License.
See LICENSE.
This software is provided for local use. No warranty is provided, as stated in the MIT License. Size estimates are diagnostic aids, not guarantees of exact space recovery. Review the known limitations above before relying on it.