Using WordPress ‘recurse_dirsize()’ PHP function

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The recurse_dirsize() WordPress PHP function is used to calculate the size of a directory, including all its subdirectories and files.

Usage

$directory_size = recurse_dirsize($directory, $exclude, $max_execution_time, $directory_cache);

Parameters

  • $directory (string) (Required): Full path of the directory.
  • $exclude (string|string[]) (Optional): Full path of a subdirectory or an array of paths to exclude from the total. Expected without trailing slash(es). Default: null
  • $max_execution_time (int) (Optional): Maximum time to run before giving up, in seconds. The timeout is global and is measured from the moment WordPress started to load. Defaults to the value of max_execution_time PHP setting. Default: null
  • $directory_cache (array) (Optional): Array of cached directory paths. Defaults to the value of dirsize_cache transient. Default: null

More information

See WordPress Developer Resources: recurse_dirsize

Examples

Calculate the size of a directory

This code calculates the size of the “uploads” directory located in the WordPress “wp-content” folder.

$uploads_dir = wp_upload_dir()['basedir'];
$directory_size = recurse_dirsize($uploads_dir);
echo 'The size of the uploads directory is: ' . $directory_size . ' bytes.';

Calculate the size of a directory, excluding a subdirectory

This code calculates the size of the “wp-content” directory, excluding the “plugins” subdirectory.

$wp_content_dir = WP_CONTENT_DIR;
$exclude = $wp_content_dir . '/plugins';
$directory_size = recurse_dirsize($wp_content_dir, $exclude);
echo 'The size of the wp-content directory without plugins is: ' . $directory_size . ' bytes.';

Calculate the size of a directory, excluding multiple subdirectories

This code calculates the size of the “wp-content” directory, excluding the “plugins” and “themes” subdirectories.

$wp_content_dir = WP_CONTENT_DIR;
$exclude = array($wp_content_dir . '/plugins', $wp_content_dir . '/themes');
$directory_size = recurse_dirsize($wp_content_dir, $exclude);
echo 'The size of the wp-content directory without plugins and themes is: ' . $directory_size . ' bytes.';

Calculate the size of a directory with a custom timeout

This code calculates the size of the “uploads” directory with a custom timeout of 10 seconds.

$uploads_dir = wp_upload_dir()['basedir'];
$max_execution_time = 10;
$directory_size = recurse_dirsize($uploads_dir, null, $max_execution_time);
echo 'The size of the uploads directory is: ' . $directory_size . ' bytes.';

Calculate the size of a directory using a directory cache

This code calculates the size of the “uploads” directory using a custom directory cache.

$uploads_dir = wp_upload_dir()['basedir'];
$directory_cache = get_transient('dirsize_cache');
$directory_size = recurse_dirsize($uploads_dir, null, null, $directory_cache);
echo 'The size of the uploads directory is: ' . $directory_size . ' bytes.';