Recommended Free Tools
To check Ubuntu disk space, open a storage tool or run df -h. To find what is using space, inspect folders with Disk Usage Analyzer or du. Start cleanup with files you recognize—such as old downloads and Trash—and back up anything important before deleting it.
Check available space in Ubuntu
Ubuntu’s desktop help describes three graphical tools for checking storage: Disk Usage Analyzer, System Monitor, and Usage. They present different views of the same basic question: how much space is used or available?
| Tool | What it shows | Useful when |
|---|---|---|
| Disk Usage Analyzer | Usage and capacity by location; it can scan a selected folder. | You want a visual breakdown and to focus on a particular folder. |
| System Monitor | Filesystem totals, free space, available space, and used space in its File Systems tab. | You want to compare mounted filesystems. |
| Usage | Total used and available space, plus usage in common directories through its Storage tab. | You want a concise storage overview. Its directory-cleanup controls can vary by Ubuntu release. |
Ubuntu desktop help lists these options in “Check how much disk space is left.” If Usage offers a checkbox beside a directory to free space, inspect the selection carefully before applying it.
Check from the terminal with df
Run:
df -hThis shows capacity and availability for currently mounted filesystems. The -h option requests human-readable units. To check the filesystem containing the root directory or your home directory specifically, use:
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df -h /
df -h "$HOME"df answers how much space is available on a filesystem; it does not tell you which files are consuming it. The Ubuntu Noble df manual documents coreutils version 9.4-3ubuntu6.3, so that package version should not be assumed for every Ubuntu release.
Find which folders are using space
Use du to estimate disk usage by directory. For a one-level summary of your home directory, run:
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du -h --max-depth=1 "$HOME" | sort -hFor a one-level summary of /var, which may require elevated read permission, run:
sudo du -h --max-depth=1 /var | sort -hThe output is sorted from smaller to larger entries, making the biggest directories easier to spot. A du scan estimates space for files and directories it can traverse; it is not the same measurement as df’s filesystem availability. They can differ because of filesystem blocks, sparse files, permissions, mount points, and deleted files that are still held open by a running process. Ubuntu’s community recovery page discusses these distinctions and notes that scanning a whole filesystem can take time.
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Free space without risking system files
- Identify the full filesystem. Run
df -hand check which mount is short on space. A full/boot, home directory, or other separate mount needs a different diagnosis from a full root filesystem. - Locate large folders. Use a graphical storage tool or a targeted
duscan. Size alone does not mean a directory is safe to remove. - Review files you recognize. Check Downloads, old personal files, duplicate copies, backups saved in the wrong location, and Trash. The Ubuntu community recovery page lists these as common sources of unexpectedly used space; Ubuntu desktop help recommends deleting files that are no longer important or useful.
- Protect files you may need. Before removing important files from the internal drive, copy them to a suitable backup destination and verify that the backup can be read. Ubuntu advises backing up important files before deletion. External storage is optional, not required to check space or clean up.
- Confirm the result. Run
df -hagain and check whether available space changed on the filesystem you cleaned.
Avoid broad rm commands and manual deletion from /usr, /var/lib, or /boot as routine beginner cleanup. Package-cache and kernel removal require release-appropriate instructions and a careful review of the packages proposed for removal; do not treat autoremove as automatically risk-free. Ubuntu documentation treats partition resizing, filesystem repair, and disk-health testing as separate tasks from checking available space; see Ubuntu’s Disks & storage documentation.
Why the numbers may not match
df reports filesystem-level availability, while du totals the directory contents it can access. Permission limits, mount points, filesystem allocation, sparse files, and deleted-but-open files can all affect the comparison. If the filesystem looks full in df but a folder scan does not account for the usage, check which filesystem is mounted at each path and whether a process may still have a deleted file open rather than deleting system directories at random. Ubuntu’s du manual is for Ubuntu Focal and documents coreutils 8.30-3ubuntu2; it explains the command, but that is not a claim about the package version in newer releases.
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