How to See Which Programs Take Up the Most Space on Windows

To free up disk space, you may want to know which programs take up the most space on your Windows PC. I will show you the tools to see this information in this article.

To know how much space programs take up on your PC, go to Settings > Apps > Apps & Features, and you will see a list with the installed apps and their respective size. This method is not the best, though, as you cannot sort programs by size, and some apps’ sizes won’t show up at all.

Here is the step-by-step of how to check the size of your programs this way:

1. Enter Settings on Windows Search and click on Open:
   
2. In the Settings window, click on Apps:
   
3. Then click on Apps & Features:
   
4. You will see a list of apps found and the size of most of these apps (but not of all.)
   

The fact that many programs’ size is missing, like Google Chrome in the picture above, and that you can not sort programs by size make Windows very ineffective at seeing how much space programs take up.

(If your Apps & Features disc space doesn’t add up, I’ve written this article explaining why this happens.)

I will show you a much better alternative below. 

How to See Which Programs Take Up the Most Space with IObit Uninstaller

The best method to check how much disk space your programs take up is using a program called IObit Uninstaller.

Differently from Windows built-in tools, this app allows you to see the size of all programs on your PC, and you can also uninstall some Windows apps like Microsoft Edge Webview2 Runtime or Cortana.

You can also sort programs by size or uninstall multiple programs at once. Here is how to use it:

1. Download IObit Uninstaller from the official website and install it.
2. After opening the program, click on Programs in the left sidebar to visualize all the programs installed on your PC:
   
3. Click on Size to sort the programs by size.
   
4. Then click on Windows Apps in the left sidebar to visualize all the installed Windows built-in apps:
   

If you prefer to do this in Windows, keep reading to see a superior option to Apps & Features.

How to See How Much Space Programs Take Up on Windows 10/11 via Control Panel

A lot of people don’t know, but you can also check the size of your installed programs using the Control Panel. While it does not show the size of all programs nor the size of some Windows apps like Cortana, it allows you to sort programs by size.

Here is how to do it:

1. Enter Control Panel on Windows Search, then click on Open:
   
2. On Control Panel, change View by to Category.
3. Then under Programs, click on Uninstall a program:
   
4. In the Programs & Features window, you will see a list of the programs installed on your PC. Click on Size to sort the programs by size:
   

As I said, some programs’ sizes won’t show up here.

Conclusion

There are three ways to check which programs take up the most space on Windows. The best way is by using IObit Uninstaller, as it is the only option where you can see the size of all of your programs while sorting them by size.

If you don’t want to install a third-party app, you can check how much space programs take up in Settings > Apps & Features or Control Panel -> Programs and Features. But it is better to use Control Panel, as it allows you to sort the programs by size.

If you want to keep freeing up disk space, check my article on how to find large files and folders on Windows 10/11.