How to Move Your User Folders in Windows 10
Move User Folders in Windows 10 and Save Storage Space
A fresh installation of Windows 10 produces different user folders that are meant to house things like downloads and documents, as well as organize content like music and photographs. However, you might want to customize things to your own liking.
Before we get started, here’s a warning: don’t move your entire user folder.
While there is a way to move your whole user folder in Windows 10, it requires users to implement a deployment tool known as Sysprep. Microsoft states with no room for misunderstanding that this process should only be carried out in a test environment. Do it on your primary PC, and you’re liable to lose data, if not access to your system.
Fortunately, there are a few alternatives. It’s relatively easy to move individual user folders, like Downloads and Documents, without running the risks associated with transferring the entire user folder itself. This way, you can move user folders to another drive, all while avoiding the potential for disaster.
Method 1: Relocating User Folders
Relocating your Documents, Pictures, or Downloads folders is a good way to get around moving your entire user folder. It’s a simple process that should only take a couple of minutes. Better yet, you can be sure that you won’t lose any of your important files!
To get started, open up File Explorer and navigate to the user folder that you want to move. Right-click it and select Properties.
Head to the Location tab. Click Move and choose the new location for your folder. From here, click OK to make the change take effect. You can repeat this same process for all of the individual folders that you want to move.
Method 2: Replacing User Folders
Moving user folders using the above Microsoft-approved method shouldn’t cause any problems. However, if you’re really feeling cautious, you might want to consider replacing your user folders instead.
This technique doesn’t actually change the location of your existing user folders. Instead, you’ll simply use new ones. Since you’re not tinkering with the folders that Windows 10 expects to find in a certain place, there’s no way it can interfere with the operating system.
By default, your photos, documents, apps, pictures, maps, videos, and music all save to the corresponding folders in your user folder. When you want your files saved to a location outside of your user folder and into a separate drive, you’ll have to adjust a few settings.
Ready to learn how to change the default location of user folders in Windows 10?
First, hit the Start menu and navigate to Settings in the left menu bar. Click System > Storage, and then select Change where new content is saved under the “More storage settings” heading.
In the next window, you can change where your apps, documents, music, photos, videos, movies, and offline maps will save. Select the dropdown menu under each file to choose an alternative drive.
Method 3: Changing Your Downloads’ Save Location
The process of replacing your Downloads folder is a bit different when compared to your other user folders. To begin, go to File Explorer, select a new location for your downloads, and then create a new folder at that location.
After that, you’ll have to move the default save location of all the content you download from the internet. This means you’ll need to open your web browser and select a new Downloads destination. Here, we’ll go over how to change your Downloads save location for Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome, and Firefox.
Microsoft Edge
In Microsoft Edge, click the three dots in the right corner of the browser, and select Settings from the dropdown menu.
Navigate to Downloads in the left menu, click the Change box under the “Location” heading, and select the folder of your choice.
Google Chrome
Google Chrome has a very similar process to Edge. Simply click the three vertical dots at the top right corner of the browser, and then click Settings.
Click the Advanced dropdown menu in the left menu bar, and hit Downloads. From here, click Change next to the default folder location, and then select your new Downloads home.
Firefox
For Firefox, click the three horizontal lines in the top right corner of the browser, and select Options. Scroll down the page until you see the “Downloads” heading.
Next to the selection that reads Save files to, hit Browse. You can then locate and redirect downloads to your newly-created folder.
