ncdu
A disk usage analyser with a text interface, built for finding what is filling a remote server you can only reach over SSH.
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1 more ways to get ncdu
Package managers
- Homebrew
brew install ncdu
About ncdu
ncdu scans a directory tree and shows what is taking the space, sorted largest first, with arrow keys to descend into folders and a key to delete what you find. Because it is text-mode it works over SSH on a machine with no graphical environment, which is exactly the situation where you most need it.
Recent versions added two things worth knowing: parallel scanning with `-t8` to use multiple threads, which is much faster on a big tree, and a binary export format with built-in compression that can browse directory trees too large to fit in memory. Colours exist but are off by default because the text was not legible in every terminal; `--color=dark` turns them on.
Strengths
- Works over SSH on a server with no graphical environment
- Parallel scanning with -t8 is much faster on large trees
- Binary export can browse directory trees too large to fit in memory
- Deleting files from inside the interface, so finding and fixing is one step
Limitations
- No Windows build
- Colours are off by default because they were not legible in all terminals
- Parallel scanning is not enabled by default either
- A text list is less immediately readable than a treemap for finding one huge file
Details
- Pricing
- Free · Free and open source under an MIT-style licence.
- License
- MIT
- Developer
- Yoran Heling
- Platforms
- macOS, Linux, Command line
- How it runs
- Downloadable app
- Account
- Not required
- Works offline
- Yes
- Best suited for
- Finding what is filling the disk on a Linux server over SSH
- Categories
- Disk and USB tools
- Last verified
- Added
- Provenance
- Selected from the TechWalrus downloads catalog (Disk & USB); facts checked against the developer's own pages, 3 sources on file.