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How to Find Large Files in OneDrive

Is your OneDrive cloud storage account running out of space? Here’s how to search OneDrive by file size and find all the large files.

Most Windows users use OneDrive to sync files between devices. A few main reasons for this wide adoption are that it offers free storage, is built into Windows, is easy to use, and can sync files between all your devices. If you are a paid Office user, you ever get extra cloud storage space. Because of all these advantages, most Windows users use OneDrive to store and share between all Windows and other drives.

For instance, I regularly use OneDrive to store and share all my files. That way, I can access the synced files on my other devices.

If you use OneDrive for a long enough time, it is only natural that it fills up with all kinds of files. This is especially true for the free 5GB storage option. In those cases, it is better to find large files in OneDrive and delete them to free up space.

This article shows two easy ways to see large files in OneDrive. Both methods achieve the same result. So, follow the one you like to find huge files on OneDrive.

Table of contents:

How to find large files on OneDrive

You can see all your large files directly on OneDrive’s official website. Here’s how.

  1. Go to the OneDrive website.
  2. Click the “Settings” icon.
  3. Click the “Options” link.
  4. Go to the “Manage storage” page.
  5. Press the “What’s taking up space?” link.
  6. You will see all the files in descending order according to their size.
  7. With that, you can now see all the large files.

OneDrive website link: https://onedrive.com/

Steps with more details:

First of all, go to the OneDrive website. You can use the above link or search for it in your favorite search engine. If prompted, log in with your Microsoft account.

After logging into OneDrive, click the “Settings” (gear) icon on the top right corner. Next, click the “Options” link.

Click OneDrive options

The above action opens the OneDrive settings page. Here, click “Manage storage” on the sidebar and then click the “What’s taking up space?” link under the “Storage Summary” section.

click what's taking up space link

Once you do that, OneDrive lists all the files in descending order according to their size. i.e., the topmost files in the list are taking up a lot of space in your OneDrive storage.

A quick tip: If the files appear in the grid form, click the “Layout” icon and choose “List.”

find large files in OneDrive - list of all files by size in decending order

Once the files are listed, you can delete them from here. For example, I want to delete a few large files. To do that, select the checkboxes next to the files you want to delete and click the “Delete” option.

delete large files in onedrive

As soon as you do that, the files are deleted, and the storage space is freed up.

A quick tip: If you accidentally deleted a few files, you can restore deleted files from the OneDrive recycle bin for up to 30 days.

Use File Explorer to see large files in the OneDrive folder

If you are logged into OneDrive on your Windows machine, you can use File Explorer to find large files in OneDrive. For this, we will use an advanced File Explorer search function called size. Let me show you.

  1. Open the File Explorer.
  2. Click “OneDrive” on the sidebar.
  3. Type “size:>1KB” in the search bar and press Enter.
  4. Set the file view to “Details.”
  5. Click the “Size” column to see files in descending order.
  6. The top files are the large files in OneDrive.

Steps with more details:

First, open File Explorer. Either press the “Start key + E” keyboard shortcut or click the File Explorer icon on the taskbar.

Next, click on your OneDrive folder on the sidebar. This action takes you to the root of the OneDrive folder.

open OneDrive folder in Windows File Explorer

Now, type size:>1KB in the File Explorer search bar on the top right corner and press “Enter.” If you are wondering, we are searching for all the files larger than 1KB.

A quick tip: If you want, you can change the size parameter to look for files over 100MB, 500MB, 1GB, etc. For that, modify the size parameter accordingly. For example, to find files over 500MB or 1GB, you should use size:>500MB or size:>1GB.

use size function to filter files by size in the OneDrive folder in file explorer

As soon as you do that, File Explorer scans the entire OneDrive directory and lists all the files. Next, set the ‘View’ to “Details.”

After that, click the “Size” heading to show files in descending order based on file size. That way, you will see all the large files at the top of the list.

files by size in decending order in the OneDrive folder in File Explorer

If you want, you can select the large files and press the “Delete” key on your keyboard to delete them.

OneDrive storage FAQ

How much free storage do I get with OneDrive?

You get 5GB of free storage. If you want, you can increase it to 10GB by referring OneDrive to your friends and family. If you want more than that, you have to subscribe to a premium plan.

What happens if OneDrive is full?

You get 5GB of free storage. If you want, you can increase it to 10GB by referring OneDrive to your friends and family. If you want more than that, you have to subscribe to a premium plan.

How do I find large files in OneDrive?

To find large files in OneDrive, open the OneDrive website, go to the Manage Storage page and click the “What’s taking up space?” link. For exact steps, follow the guide in this article.

How do I check my OneDrive size limit?

Open the OneDrive website, and you will see the OneDrive size limit at the bottom right corner.

Can I delete large files in OneDrive?

First, find all the large files in OneDrive, select the files you want to delete and then click the “Delete” option. The files are immediately deleted and moved to the recycle bin.

What is OneDrive file size limit?

For regular users, the maximum file upload size limit in OneDrive is 250GB. The maximum file upload size limit for Work and School accounts is 15GB.

That is all. It is that simple to find large files in OneDrive.

I hope this simple and easy Windows how-to guide helped you.

If you are stuck or need help, send an email, and I will try to help as much as possible.

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