Finder shows different file size compared to terminal












2














I have a folder called 'objects' in my mac.



When I check the contents of it in the terminal it's showing like this.
Image from terminal



Clearly object folder shows 4.1K



However when I see it in the finder,



Image from the finder



It shows, 26.3 MB



What's the reason for the significant increase in the size in the finder?










share|improve this question


















  • 1




    What did you alias ls to? The output you show is not standard for a simple ls.
    – nohillside
    Dec 29 '18 at 12:16










  • @nohillside I have aliased ls to 'ls -lh'
    – Prajwal
    Dec 29 '18 at 13:14










  • The image shows a file size of 25.7 MB but in the text you write 26.3 MB. Where did the last figure come from?
    – 11684
    Dec 29 '18 at 21:33
















2














I have a folder called 'objects' in my mac.



When I check the contents of it in the terminal it's showing like this.
Image from terminal



Clearly object folder shows 4.1K



However when I see it in the finder,



Image from the finder



It shows, 26.3 MB



What's the reason for the significant increase in the size in the finder?










share|improve this question


















  • 1




    What did you alias ls to? The output you show is not standard for a simple ls.
    – nohillside
    Dec 29 '18 at 12:16










  • @nohillside I have aliased ls to 'ls -lh'
    – Prajwal
    Dec 29 '18 at 13:14










  • The image shows a file size of 25.7 MB but in the text you write 26.3 MB. Where did the last figure come from?
    – 11684
    Dec 29 '18 at 21:33














2












2








2







I have a folder called 'objects' in my mac.



When I check the contents of it in the terminal it's showing like this.
Image from terminal



Clearly object folder shows 4.1K



However when I see it in the finder,



Image from the finder



It shows, 26.3 MB



What's the reason for the significant increase in the size in the finder?










share|improve this question













I have a folder called 'objects' in my mac.



When I check the contents of it in the terminal it's showing like this.
Image from terminal



Clearly object folder shows 4.1K



However when I see it in the finder,



Image from the finder



It shows, 26.3 MB



What's the reason for the significant increase in the size in the finder?







terminal mac finder unix filesystem






share|improve this question













share|improve this question











share|improve this question




share|improve this question










asked Dec 29 '18 at 11:13









Prajwal

132




132








  • 1




    What did you alias ls to? The output you show is not standard for a simple ls.
    – nohillside
    Dec 29 '18 at 12:16










  • @nohillside I have aliased ls to 'ls -lh'
    – Prajwal
    Dec 29 '18 at 13:14










  • The image shows a file size of 25.7 MB but in the text you write 26.3 MB. Where did the last figure come from?
    – 11684
    Dec 29 '18 at 21:33














  • 1




    What did you alias ls to? The output you show is not standard for a simple ls.
    – nohillside
    Dec 29 '18 at 12:16










  • @nohillside I have aliased ls to 'ls -lh'
    – Prajwal
    Dec 29 '18 at 13:14










  • The image shows a file size of 25.7 MB but in the text you write 26.3 MB. Where did the last figure come from?
    – 11684
    Dec 29 '18 at 21:33








1




1




What did you alias ls to? The output you show is not standard for a simple ls.
– nohillside
Dec 29 '18 at 12:16




What did you alias ls to? The output you show is not standard for a simple ls.
– nohillside
Dec 29 '18 at 12:16












@nohillside I have aliased ls to 'ls -lh'
– Prajwal
Dec 29 '18 at 13:14




@nohillside I have aliased ls to 'ls -lh'
– Prajwal
Dec 29 '18 at 13:14












The image shows a file size of 25.7 MB but in the text you write 26.3 MB. Where did the last figure come from?
– 11684
Dec 29 '18 at 21:33




The image shows a file size of 25.7 MB but in the text you write 26.3 MB. Where did the last figure come from?
– 11684
Dec 29 '18 at 21:33










1 Answer
1






active

oldest

votes


















5














You have to enter the command du -sh * instead of ls to get the actual size of the folders in your current directory (the sum of the files size they contain).



The command ls shows file size, but it has a different meaning for folders. It actually shows the size allocated for the directory to store metadata (mainly the index) of the files it contains.






share|improve this answer























  • Oh. When I try to transfer the folder to drive, it's actually transferring the entire 26 MB. Is there anyway I can transfer only the actual file size i.e. 4KB?
    – Prajwal
    Dec 29 '18 at 11:45






  • 2




    @Prajwal 26 MB is the actual size of your folder with all its content. The only way to reduce its size is to compress it.
    – Yoric
    Dec 29 '18 at 11:51








  • 1




    @Prajwal you can remove the contents of the folder and only transfer that. Then Finder and ls wound agree on the size.
    – Tim
    Dec 29 '18 at 13:32










  • @Tim And nuke the git metadata at the same time?
    – D. Ben Knoble
    Dec 29 '18 at 14:17











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1 Answer
1






active

oldest

votes








1 Answer
1






active

oldest

votes









active

oldest

votes






active

oldest

votes









5














You have to enter the command du -sh * instead of ls to get the actual size of the folders in your current directory (the sum of the files size they contain).



The command ls shows file size, but it has a different meaning for folders. It actually shows the size allocated for the directory to store metadata (mainly the index) of the files it contains.






share|improve this answer























  • Oh. When I try to transfer the folder to drive, it's actually transferring the entire 26 MB. Is there anyway I can transfer only the actual file size i.e. 4KB?
    – Prajwal
    Dec 29 '18 at 11:45






  • 2




    @Prajwal 26 MB is the actual size of your folder with all its content. The only way to reduce its size is to compress it.
    – Yoric
    Dec 29 '18 at 11:51








  • 1




    @Prajwal you can remove the contents of the folder and only transfer that. Then Finder and ls wound agree on the size.
    – Tim
    Dec 29 '18 at 13:32










  • @Tim And nuke the git metadata at the same time?
    – D. Ben Knoble
    Dec 29 '18 at 14:17
















5














You have to enter the command du -sh * instead of ls to get the actual size of the folders in your current directory (the sum of the files size they contain).



The command ls shows file size, but it has a different meaning for folders. It actually shows the size allocated for the directory to store metadata (mainly the index) of the files it contains.






share|improve this answer























  • Oh. When I try to transfer the folder to drive, it's actually transferring the entire 26 MB. Is there anyway I can transfer only the actual file size i.e. 4KB?
    – Prajwal
    Dec 29 '18 at 11:45






  • 2




    @Prajwal 26 MB is the actual size of your folder with all its content. The only way to reduce its size is to compress it.
    – Yoric
    Dec 29 '18 at 11:51








  • 1




    @Prajwal you can remove the contents of the folder and only transfer that. Then Finder and ls wound agree on the size.
    – Tim
    Dec 29 '18 at 13:32










  • @Tim And nuke the git metadata at the same time?
    – D. Ben Knoble
    Dec 29 '18 at 14:17














5












5








5






You have to enter the command du -sh * instead of ls to get the actual size of the folders in your current directory (the sum of the files size they contain).



The command ls shows file size, but it has a different meaning for folders. It actually shows the size allocated for the directory to store metadata (mainly the index) of the files it contains.






share|improve this answer














You have to enter the command du -sh * instead of ls to get the actual size of the folders in your current directory (the sum of the files size they contain).



The command ls shows file size, but it has a different meaning for folders. It actually shows the size allocated for the directory to store metadata (mainly the index) of the files it contains.







share|improve this answer














share|improve this answer



share|improve this answer








edited Dec 29 '18 at 12:18









nohillside

51k13109149




51k13109149










answered Dec 29 '18 at 11:27









Yoric

2685




2685












  • Oh. When I try to transfer the folder to drive, it's actually transferring the entire 26 MB. Is there anyway I can transfer only the actual file size i.e. 4KB?
    – Prajwal
    Dec 29 '18 at 11:45






  • 2




    @Prajwal 26 MB is the actual size of your folder with all its content. The only way to reduce its size is to compress it.
    – Yoric
    Dec 29 '18 at 11:51








  • 1




    @Prajwal you can remove the contents of the folder and only transfer that. Then Finder and ls wound agree on the size.
    – Tim
    Dec 29 '18 at 13:32










  • @Tim And nuke the git metadata at the same time?
    – D. Ben Knoble
    Dec 29 '18 at 14:17


















  • Oh. When I try to transfer the folder to drive, it's actually transferring the entire 26 MB. Is there anyway I can transfer only the actual file size i.e. 4KB?
    – Prajwal
    Dec 29 '18 at 11:45






  • 2




    @Prajwal 26 MB is the actual size of your folder with all its content. The only way to reduce its size is to compress it.
    – Yoric
    Dec 29 '18 at 11:51








  • 1




    @Prajwal you can remove the contents of the folder and only transfer that. Then Finder and ls wound agree on the size.
    – Tim
    Dec 29 '18 at 13:32










  • @Tim And nuke the git metadata at the same time?
    – D. Ben Knoble
    Dec 29 '18 at 14:17
















Oh. When I try to transfer the folder to drive, it's actually transferring the entire 26 MB. Is there anyway I can transfer only the actual file size i.e. 4KB?
– Prajwal
Dec 29 '18 at 11:45




Oh. When I try to transfer the folder to drive, it's actually transferring the entire 26 MB. Is there anyway I can transfer only the actual file size i.e. 4KB?
– Prajwal
Dec 29 '18 at 11:45




2




2




@Prajwal 26 MB is the actual size of your folder with all its content. The only way to reduce its size is to compress it.
– Yoric
Dec 29 '18 at 11:51






@Prajwal 26 MB is the actual size of your folder with all its content. The only way to reduce its size is to compress it.
– Yoric
Dec 29 '18 at 11:51






1




1




@Prajwal you can remove the contents of the folder and only transfer that. Then Finder and ls wound agree on the size.
– Tim
Dec 29 '18 at 13:32




@Prajwal you can remove the contents of the folder and only transfer that. Then Finder and ls wound agree on the size.
– Tim
Dec 29 '18 at 13:32












@Tim And nuke the git metadata at the same time?
– D. Ben Knoble
Dec 29 '18 at 14:17




@Tim And nuke the git metadata at the same time?
– D. Ben Knoble
Dec 29 '18 at 14:17


















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