Scour

A high-performance disk cleanup utility for Windows. Scour uses Win32 native filesystem APIs and NTFS MFT direct reading to scan millions of files fast, then helps you identify and remove wasted space across 12 different scanner types.

Built with C# .NET 9 + WPF. Catppuccin Mocha dark theme. Zero dependencies to install.

Features

12 Built-in Scanners

Scanner	Description
Empty Folders	Bottom-up detection of truly empty directories (handles nested empties)
Duplicate Files	3-phase detection: size grouping -> partial SHA256 (4KB) -> full hash
Big Files	Top 100 largest files via min-heap (O(n log N))
Temp Files	Pattern-based detection (.tmp, .bak, .log, Office lock files, macOS metadata, etc.)
Zero-Length Files	Find 0-byte empty files cluttering your filesystem
Old Files	Files not modified in 365+ days
Broken Links	Broken symbolic links and junctions
Broken Shortcuts	Windows .lnk shortcuts pointing to deleted targets (COM IShellLink)
Long Paths	Files/folders with paths exceeding 260 chars (MAX_PATH)
Locked Files	Files that can't be opened (locked by processes, permission denied)
Duplicate Archives	.zip/.7z/.rar files sitting next to their already-extracted contents
Orphaned App Data	Leftover AppData/ProgramData/Program Files from uninstalled programs

Performance

• Win32 P/Invoke (FindFirstFileW/FindNextFileW) bypasses .NET System.IO overhead
• NTFS MFT reader - direct Master File Table enumeration via USN journal for instant volume-wide indexing (admin required)
• Parallel directory walking at shallow depths with Parallel.ForEachAsync
• Partial hash optimization - only full-hashes files that collide on 4KB prefix hash
• DataGrid virtualization for smooth scrolling through large result sets
• Long path support via \\?\ prefix (handles paths > 260 chars)

UI/UX

• Catppuccin Mocha dark theme with custom borderless window chrome
• Keyboard shortcuts: F5 (scan), Escape (cancel), Ctrl+A/D/I (select all/none/invert), Ctrl+E (export), Delete
• Filter bar - real-time search results by name, path, or detail
• Right-click context menu - open file location, copy path, remove from list
• Drag-and-drop - drop a folder onto the window to set scan path
• Export to CSV or JSON
• Sortable columns with proper numeric/date sorting
• Duplicate group coloring - subtle tinted row backgrounds per duplicate group
• Scan All - run all 12 scanners in parallel with one click
• Selected size summary - status bar shows count and total size of selected items
• Scan duration and error count in status bar
• Settings persistence - all options, window position, and excluded directories saved to %LOCALAPPDATA%\Scour\settings.json
• Windows Explorer context menu - right-click any folder and select "Scan with Scour"

Delete Modes

• Recycle Bin (default) - uses SHFileOperation with FOF_ALLOWUNDO
• Permanent - bypasses recycle bin
• Simulate - dry run, no files touched

Download

Grab the latest release from the Releases page.

Self-contained - no .NET runtime installation required. Single Scour.App.exe file (~130 MB).

Build from Source

# Clone
git clone https://github.com/SysAdminDoc/Scour.git
cd Scour

# Build
dotnet build -c Release

# Run
dotnet run --project src/Scour.App

# Publish self-contained single-file exe
dotnet publish src/Scour.App/Scour.App.csproj -c Release -r win-x64 --self-contained true -p:PublishSingleFile=true -p:IncludeNativeLibrariesForSelfExtract=true --source https://api.nuget.org/v3/index.json -o ./publish

Requires .NET 9 SDK to build.

Project Structure

Scour/
  src/
    Scour.Core/           # Core library - models, interfaces, services
      Interfaces/         # IScannerModule contract
      Models/             # ScanConfig, ScanResultItem, DeleteMode
      Native/             # Win32 P/Invoke, NTFS MFT reader
      Services/           # FileSystemWalker, FileHasher, DeletionService, AppSettings, ContextMenuService
    Scour.Scanners/       # Scanner implementations (12 modules)
      ScannerBase.cs      # Shared base class (deletion, reset)
      EmptyDirectoryScanner.cs
      DuplicateFileScanner.cs
      BigFileScanner.cs
      TempFileScanner.cs
      ZeroLengthFileScanner.cs
      OldFileScanner.cs
      BrokenSymlinkScanner.cs
      BrokenShortcutScanner.cs
      LongPathScanner.cs
      LockedFileScanner.cs
      DuplicateArchiveScanner.cs
      OrphanedAppDataScanner.cs
    Scour.App/            # WPF desktop application
      Views/              # MainWindow XAML + code-behind
      ViewModels/         # MainViewModel, ScannerViewModel, ViewModelBase
      Converters/         # Value converters (bool, enum, group color)
      Theme/              # Catppuccin Mocha XAML ResourceDictionary

Architecture

• MVVM with ViewModelBase, RelayCommand, AsyncRelayCommand
• Plugin pattern via IScannerModule interface - add scanners by implementing one interface
• ScannerBase abstract class handles shared deletion logic
• Channel<T> for streaming file entries from background walker to consumers
• IProgress<ScanProgress> for real-time UI updates during scans
• CancellationToken throughout for responsive cancellation
• ListCollectionView for real-time filtering without re-scanning
• NTFS MFT direct reading via FSCTL_ENUM_USN_DATA for volume-wide file indexing
• COM IShellLink interop for parsing Windows shortcut (.lnk) targets
• Registry-based orphaned app detection cross-referencing installed programs

Excluded Directories (Default)

System Volume Information, RECYCLER, $RECYCLE.BIN, winsxs, System32, GAC_MSIL, GAC_32, node_modules, .git, .svn, .hg

Configurable via the UI sidebar.

License

MIT