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bootandy/dust

A Rust-based disk usage tool, a more intuitive alternative to du that shows which directories and files take the most space.

Open-source alternative to:ncdu

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What is it?

Dust is a command-line tool for seeing where disk space is used. It works like du, but prints a sorted tree of the largest directories and files with proportional bars, so you don't need to pipe output through sort or head. By default it fills the terminal height and recurses into the tree to surface the biggest entries, including large individual files nested deep in a hierarchy.

The output colors and indents bars to show parent-child relationships, so you can tell which subfolder belongs to which larger folder. Hard links are counted once unless you choose apparent size. Options control depth, item count, file-only or directory-only views, regex include and exclude filters, minimum size, JSON output, and a monochrome mode for screen readers.

Dust is installable through Cargo, Homebrew, Scoop, Snap, DNF, conda and several other package managers, and it also has a config file at ~/.config/dust/config.toml for setting default flags.

Key features

  • 01Shows the largest directories and files in a sorted tree with proportional bars.
  • 02Recurses automatically to find large entries, with optional depth and item-count limits.
  • 03Filters output by regex, minimum size, file type, or directory-only and file-only views.
  • 04Supports apparent-size mode and does not double-count hard links by default.
  • 05Outputs JSON for scripting and offers a monochrome mode for screen readers.

Use cases

  • Finding which folders are filling up a laptop or server disk.
  • Locating unexpectedly large files inside deeply nested project directories.
  • Scripting disk usage reports by piping JSON output into jq.
  • Cleaning up node_modules or build caches by collapsing or ignoring them.

Quick start

  1. 1

    Install with Cargo

    cargo install du-dust
  2. 2

    Or install with Homebrew

    brew install dust
  3. 3

    Run dust in a directory

    dust

Things to know

  • The snap package can only access files under /home.
  • Windows MSVC builds require the VCRUNTIME140.dll runtime.

In collections

CLI & terminal tools

Topics

#disk-usage#cli#rust#filesystem#storage#du

FAQ

What is dust?
A Rust-based disk usage tool, a more intuitive alternative to du that shows which directories and files take the most space. Dust is a command-line tool for seeing where disk space is used. It works like du, but prints a sorted tree of the largest directories and files with proportional bars, so you don't need to pipe output through sort or head. By default it fills the terminal height and recurses into the tree to surface the biggest entries, including large individual files nested deep in a hierarchy.
Is dust free to use? What license does it have?
dust is open source under the Apache-2.0 license. Check the license terms before using it in commercial products.
Is dust still maintained?
Actively maintained. The last commit to dust was on Nov 1, 2026.
What can I use dust for?
Finding which folders are filling up a laptop or server disk. Locating unexpectedly large files inside deeply nested project directories. Scripting disk usage reports by piping JSON output into jq. Cleaning up node_modules or build caches by collapsing or ignoring them.
How do I install dust?
Install with Cargo: cargo install du-dust Or install with Homebrew: brew install dust Run dust in a directory: dust
Where can I get dust?
The source code and installation instructions are on GitHub: https://github.com/bootandy/dust

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