How to move downloads folder in windows 7

These folders have names like My Documents, My Pictures, My Videos or My Music, and are designed to provide you with a centralized location for specific file categories in the Windows operating system. These folders are not to be confused with the new libraries that Microsoft has integrated into Windows 7.

They are all created on the same partition that Windows is installed on, something that some users might want to change.

Probably the most common reason for doing so is storage limitations. If your main partition is small, you may want to move files and data to another drive because of that to avoid that its performance deteriorates, or that no new data can be stored in those locations anymore.

The following articles explains how to move special folders like My Documents to another partition or location. This is actually easier than it sounds in Windows 7. Update : This method works in newer versions of Windows such as Windows 8 and Windows 10 as well.

Microsoft dropped the "My" part of the folder name though, so that these folders are listed as Documents, Downloads, Favorites, Music, Pictures or Videos. Let us take a look at where those folders are located by default in the Windows 7 operating system:. The special folders are located in the user folder, e. One option to move those folders is to use symbolic links , a method that we have described in detail in a previous tutorial. But that is not the easiest option as Windows 7 offers an even better solution to moving the "My folders" to another location.

Open Windows Explorer and navigate to the folder of the user whose My Documents folder you want to move to another location, e. Locate the folder that you want to move to another location: we use the My Documents folder in this example but the same method applies to My Pictures, My Videos, My Music, Downloads and basically any other folder in the user directory that is created by default during user creation.

Right-click the desired folder and select Properties from the menu. Switch in the new window to the location tab which should look like the following screenshot. The menu displays the current path of the folder and the three buttons Restore Default, Move and Find Target. Restore Default simply moves the files back to the default location of the folder.

Move will open a browser with the option to pick a new folder where there files will be stored from then on. Find Target finally opens a Windows Explorer window with the folder's contents. The path to the new folder can also be pasted directly into the form if you select the move option. Selecting a new folder and clicking apply will open a Move Folder query that displays the old and new folder location and the option to move all files that are currently in the folder to the new location which is useful if you want the files to be available in the new location.

If you don't do that, all existing files remain in the old location while all new files are created in the new location you picked instead. Note that you can only access the new location of the folder in Windows Explorer's sidebar.

It is recommended to move the files if they need to be accessed by applications or services which is for instance the case for the save game folder or some of the other user folders. Just make sure that the new location has enough free storage space as you will run into copy operation errors when that is not the case.

Windows 7 and newer versions of Windows make it dead easy to move the default data folders of a user account to another location. It is easier when you perform the operation right after installation of Windows or user account creation, but you can perform it any time later as well. Perhaps this is because you are are actually moving the folder itself, not just reassigning the files to a new folder.

I wonder why not? Maybe because I moved mine by hacking the registry? I created partitions on my Cdrive so I could move my music etc,however,only my documents have the buttons described.. I have xp sv pk 3. I suggest that you call the exported file IEDownloads. If the Default Download Directory entry does not yet exist, right-click on a clear area of the right-hand side, select New, String value then paste Default Download Directory into the now-highlighted entry New value 1 and check that the result is exactly Default Download Directory [without any remnant of New value 1 left in its name] then enter a Data value for it using the procedure given in para 3.

If you need to change an existing entry then use the procedure given in para 3. If you create or change the entry then export the key's final state using the procedure in para 3.

I suggest that you call the exported file IEDownloads-Amended. I suggest that you call the exported file EdgeDownloads. I suggest that you call the exported file EdgeDownloads-Amended. This procedure is called merging the key rather than running the file. You will need to give your confirmation a couple of times.

Afterwards, a success dialog is displayed. Many of the entries in User shell folders are repeated in Shell folders. I always edit the entries in User shell folders not Shell folders. I have never found a use for Shell folders and have never bothered experimenting with it because it contains the warning! Do not use this registry key. The procedure I have given you does not run this risk. Repair installs can be such effective recovery procedures that I decided not to consider anything that would jeopardise them.

This restoration can also take only about 25 minutes or less. If my initial attempts to fix a fault do not work then I stop trying to be clever and just restore the latest system image.

You can confidently chase faults or just conduct experiments knowing that you will be able to get back to square one even if it all goes horribly wrong. It allows you to choose drives to use for your user folders but I prefer using the procedure I have described above because it also allows me to choose specific folders instead of just drives. This decision relieves my Windows drive [C:] of the burden of holding 10GB of maps and so reduces the size of my regular system images.

Drive F is actually a small 10GB partition on the very large drive I use for my own files. Because I have chosen to save my Maps in drive F, I ought to include drive F in system images but I only do so once in a blue moon when I add or update any maps. If I was using Windows to create my system images I would have to include both drive C and drive F in every image and that would add 10GB to every image I made.

I appreciate that an extra 10GB is hardly the end of the world. How satisfied are you with this article? Thanks for your feedback, it helps us improve the site. Sam Sh. Isn't there a way in the settings section for windows 10 to do it?

In Default save locations? Report abuse. Details required :. Cancel Submit. How satisfied are you with this comment? In reply to Sam Sh. I addressed that question in para 8. In reply to Cabuj's post on October 6, In reply to Tryx3's post on October 6, I then expected to be able to change the address, not only have a MOVE option!

Please tidy this ridiculous problem in all versions of Windows asap. After all, if I can do it in Videos, why not in Downloads?? How do you find this downloads folder icon to begin with?? I agree. Right-click on it and choose Properties. So, I chose D: as my location to move it to, and now it just changed my entire drive to be the Downloads folder. Next post: Make outlook default email client. Previous post: View page source missing in Firefox tools.

Move Downloads folder to new location in Windows 7 on September 11, Moving Downloads from the default location would be required for the following reasons. Now back to feeding my computer its install files….. Reply Link. Me June 1, , pm. Harish December 5, , am.