If you are here in search of a disk analyzer software, then I am sure that you already know about it. But for those who don’t know yet, it is generally a computer program or tool which you can use for analyzing the storage space of an electro-mechanical drive. Here the term “analyze” stands for different purposes like exploring documents, cleaning up space, or even optimizing the disk when needed. Disk analyzers are very important tools to save and optimize disk usage on your Linux system.

Best Disk Analyzer Software for Linux

There is a bunch of disk analyzer tools for different platforms. Even if you search specifically for Linux, the options are abundant. So it’s very difficult to choose the right one. Here we are going to introduce you with a list of our most favorite disk space analyzer tools for Linux. The most important part is that you can install them on any Linux distro without any hassle. We have also got you covered, providing the download links for each of the Linux disk space analyzer software.

1. Disk Usage Analyzer

This is a pretty simple tool for analyzing Linux disk space, but its minimal graphical UI makes it people’s favorite. Some of you may be familiar with “Baobab,” which is the old name for this tool. Yes, it doesn’t do much other than analyzing and visualizing your data. But you may want to use it for being easy to use.

Key Features of Disk Usage Analyzer

It shows the live illustration of Linux disk usage as the form of a pie chart.

This tool can scan the full file system at a time or even individual folders.

DUA can connect to a remote file system via ssh, ftp, smb, HTTP, and https protocols.

The program will constantly monitor any changes in the home directory if you want to.

Get Disk Usage Analyzer

2. QDirStat

QDirStat is a popular GUI based tool. This tool is a replacement of KDirStat, which was another KDE based Linux storage analyzer. QDirStat will show your storage usage visually, like any other disk analyzer tool. Apart from this, it can clean up your storage too.

Key Features of QDirStat

It represents the storage usage by visualizing with rectangular and square grids.

Users can set different cleanup functions based on their preferences.

It is possible to configure treemap colors according to file type.

QDirStat is desktop independent and works on any environment, unlike its predecessor.

Get QDirStat

3. Ncurses Disk Usage (ncdu)

Now, this tool is quite handy, simple, and fast, except it doesn’t have a graphical UI. This program performs instructions through command lines. ncdu will scan your entire system automatically just after you launch the program. You just need to go through the tool’s official instructions set to rule over your storage space.

Key Features of Ncurses Disk Usage

It can easily run on any minimal configuration setup.

The interface of the program is interactive and can be tweaked.

It can report system storage space for individual directories.

Users can manage a web directory using ssh protocol.

Get ncdu

4. XDiskUsage

This tool is, again, a GUI based tool. But it’s user interface is not that fancy. Many people love their simple manner. It represents different directories in a basic tree format where the branches are rectangle-shaped. The more you fill up space in a directory, the bulkier the rectangle gets.

Key Features of XDiskUsage

This tool clearly shows the directory name and space used.

It is easier navigating through the input device across the directory rectangles.

Users can conveniently copy the directory path to use that in other programs.

You can even download the source and compile it into your system for installation.

Get XDiskUsage

5. JDiskReport

This is a Java-based program, and for this beautiful reason, it is cross-platform. You can use this tool on any type of Linux machine to analyze your storage space. The left panel of this program shows you the list view of the directory. While the other portion of the display shows you a pie chart of your disk statistics.

Key Features of JDiskReport

It can find and clean obsolete files from your system.

This tool shows the top chart of the largest files according to file type.

Users can view the statistics in a tabular form too.

There is and will be no advertisements as the maker claims.

Get JDiskReport

6. Filelight

Filelight has a very clean and minimal user interface. It represents the disk usage of the entire system through a special pie chart. You can call it a sunburst visualization. You can also use your mouse to deep dive into different parts of the pie chart.

Key Features of Filelight

You can exclude directories from the list so that it doesn’t scan those directories.

The color scheme of the user interface can be changed based on user preference.

A particular directory can be opened in the file manager as well as in the terminal window.

Users can hover their mouse to get detailed information on a particular directory.

Get Filelight

7. DUC

This is a versatile and useful tool that can be used through a graphical interface as well as a console interface. You can connect it to the web using CGI. The most interesting part is it visualizes the statistics in different types of beautiful graphs.

Key Features of DUC

It can handle huge storage disks without any hassle.

Different types of user interface design in a single package makes it versatile and loved by many people.

DUC stores data in an optimized database, and this is why users don’t need to wait for indexing every time.

It has extensive documentation on their official website.

Get DUC

8. DUtree

It is another Linux disk usage analyzer. It is written in RUST programming language, and this is why it runs blazingly fast. It can show the disk usage in graphs and charts like most other applications. Besides, it can show the entire directory as a tree-like structure.

Key Features of DUtree

It can represent the output in a fancy and colorful way.

Users can easily aggregate small files using this program.

You can select and compare two directories by using this tool.

It is possible to exclude any directory from further scanning.

Get DUtree

9. GdMap

GdMap has an old school user interface. Cushion treemaps are used in this program to visualize data. The directories and files are displayed in rectangular shapes of different colors. The size of the rectangle increases for the directory size.

Key Features of GdMap

It can be used in all POSIX machines.

There is a color editor for editing the cushion color.

All the files in a directory are represented by color in a rectangle.

It is simple and easy to use.

Get GdMap

10. CrossDirStat

It is a relatively new tool. As the name suggests, it is a cross-platform program. It has a beautiful Android-like material design, and it represents disk usage in colorful rectangles. This program is easy to use, and the basic settings can be found on the start screen. So you don’t have to look out for the settings.

Key Features of CrosDirStat

The colors of the rectangular visualization can be changed easily.

Users can export the graphical representation in JSON, SVG, and PNG format.

It can create the tree structure of a selected directory.

The tree structure of the directories can be exported as JSON with file sizes.

Get CrossDirStat

Final Thoughts

Day by day, we are migrating to the cloud storage services. But still, we need to use and manage local disks. So the storage space analyzer tools are a very important part of a Linux based machine. Hopefully, the above list will help you with choosing the best possible storage space analyzer for your Linux system. Are there any of your favorite tools that you had expected to see here? Share your thoughts in the comment section. And, if you think this article as an informative one, share it with your friends.