Finder shows different file size compared to terminal












1














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?










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  • What did you alias ls to? The output you show is not standard for a simple ls.
    – nohillside
    50 mins ago
















1














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







New contributor




Prajwal is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.




















  • What did you alias ls to? The output you show is not standard for a simple ls.
    – nohillside
    50 mins ago














1












1








1







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







New contributor




Prajwal is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.











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







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Prajwal is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.











share|improve this question







New contributor




Prajwal is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
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share|improve this question






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asked 1 hour ago









Prajwal

61




61




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  • What did you alias ls to? The output you show is not standard for a simple ls.
    – nohillside
    50 mins ago


















  • What did you alias ls to? The output you show is not standard for a simple ls.
    – nohillside
    50 mins ago
















What did you alias ls to? The output you show is not standard for a simple ls.
– nohillside
50 mins ago




What did you alias ls to? The output you show is not standard for a simple ls.
– nohillside
50 mins ago










1 Answer
1






active

oldest

votes


















2














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










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Yoric is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.


















  • 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
    1 hour ago










  • @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
    1 hour ago













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1 Answer
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active

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1 Answer
1






active

oldest

votes









active

oldest

votes






active

oldest

votes









2














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










New contributor




Yoric is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.


















  • 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
    1 hour ago










  • @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
    1 hour ago


















2














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










New contributor




Yoric is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.


















  • 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
    1 hour ago










  • @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
    1 hour ago
















2












2








2






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










New contributor




Yoric is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.









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










New contributor




Yoric is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.









share|improve this answer



share|improve this answer








edited 49 mins ago









nohillside

50.8k13109148




50.8k13109148






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answered 1 hour ago









Yoric

1563




1563




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New contributor





Yoric is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
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Yoric is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.












  • 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
    1 hour ago










  • @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
    1 hour ago




















  • 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
    1 hour ago










  • @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
    1 hour ago


















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
1 hour ago




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
1 hour ago












@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
1 hour ago






@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
1 hour ago












Prajwal is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.










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