Key Takeaways:
- Windows, by default, only shows the duration of an individual video file in File Explorer.
- When needed, you can use the built-in properties dialog box to find the total duration of all video files in a folder or all sub-folders in a directory.
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Recently, I stumbled upon a problem while trying to view the total duration of multiple video files in a folder. I thought that VLC might be able to help me with this task. So I launched the folder with VLC and toggled the playlist, but to my disappointment, VLC could not show the total duration of the video files.
Upon further investigation, I realized this was probably because VLC cannot calculate the total duration when the media files are mixed with other file types and/or separated into their own subfolders.
Thankfully, there is a much simpler and more efficient way to view the total duration of all video files in a folder. In this guide, I will take you through the step-by-step process of finding the total duration of all your video files in a Windows folder.
The steps below work the same in Windows 10 and 11.
Find the total duration of all video files
You don’t need any third-party programs to find the total duration of video files in a folder or sub-folder. You can use File Explorer’s properties dialog box. It’s that simple.
Here are the steps to view the total duration of all video files:
- Open the File Explorer.
- Go to the folder with all the video files.
- Select all the video files with the “Ctrl key + A” shortcut.
- Right-click on the files.
- Select the “Properties” option.
- Go to the “Details” tab.
- You will see the total duration next to “Length” under the “Video” section.
- With that, you now know the total length of all selected video files in a folder.
Steps with more details:
First, go to the folder with the video files. Next, select all the video files using the “Ctrl key + A” keyboard shortcut.
If your video files are in separate sub-folders in a directory or there are multiple file formats, filter them with a wildcard search in File Explorer.
To do that, place the mouse cursor in the File Explorer search bar, type “*.fileExtension” without quotes, and press Enter. Don’t forget to replace “fileExtension” with the actual extension of the target file type. For example, to filter all the MP4 files, I used “*.mp4.”
Once the files are filtered, select them using the “Ctrl + A” keyboard shortcut. After that, right-click on them and select the “Properties” option from the context menu.
The above action opens the “Properties” window that lists a whole bunch of general details of the selected files. Go to the “Details” in the Properties window.
You will see the total duration of all the video files next to “Length” under the “Video” section.
Depending on the number of files and your system hardware specification, it can take a couple of seconds to switch the tab or show details in the tab. So, don’t worry if it looks frozen for a few seconds.
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That is all. It is that simple to see the total duration of all videos in a folder.
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.