By default, Windows creates multiple folders that point to specific locations on your hard drive, such as the Downloads and Documents folders. For example, the default location for the Downloads folder is C:\Users\your-username\Downloads.
For most users, the C drive is the location where the operating system is installed. However, if C drive becomes full, it may result in issues such as inability to install Windows updates or constant disk full notifications.
Therefore, it is advisable to move the Downloads folder, including its contents, to another partition on your hard drive or to an external drive to free up space.
Move downloads folder to different location in Windows 11
I recommend getting one first Create a Windows restore point before proceeding to move the Downloads folder. In some cases, unforeseen problems may arise during this process. With a restore point you can always return to the original state of your system.
After creating the restore point, make sure that you first create a folder called “Downloads” in the new location. If you do not do this, the “Downloads” folder may no longer be visible in the “Quick Access” and in the user profile.
To get started, open Windows Explorer.
In Windows Explorer, in the address bar type: %userprofile%. This opens the current user's user folder.
Right-click on the “Downloads” folder and click “Properties” from the menu.
In the folder's properties, navigate to the “Location” tab. Click the “Move” button to change the location of the folder to another drive or location within Windows 11.
Select the newly created “Downloads” folder in the new location and click “Select folder”. If something went wrong, you can restore the “downloads” folder by downloading this file: https://pc-tips.info/downloads/downloadmap_herstellen.zip and running it as administrator.
I hope this helped you. Thank you for reading!
Hoi
I have a question, I have a school laptop with Windows 10 and I want to move the downloads folder to C:/Windows, but I cannot change the downloads folder in the properties of explorer, I cannot type, it indicates that it has the specified path. can't find it, can you give some advice?
With regards
Delano Su
Hi, I suspect these are restrictions that the school has a policy applying to the laptop to prevent changes. There will be more settings that you cannot change. Then unfortunately it is not possible.
Study them! 🙂
Excellent explanation. This made changing the location of the “Downloads” folder a piece of cake!
I like to read that! Glad it worked, thanks for your response 🙂
Good day, I think I followed your instructions, but something still goes wrong.
I tried moving the download folder from C to D first. The files arrived there, but the folder has disappeared. I then created a downloads folder in D, although I didn't have a good feeling about that. As a test I downloaded a file, which arrives neatly in D, but not in that folder. Hopefully there is a solution. Sincerely.
Hello, have you selected the D:\ drive or typed “d:\”. You really need to select the D:\ drive by clicking the “move” button. Greetings, Stefan
My problem now is actually that there is no original download folder anymore, only the files in the download folder on partition C have been moved to partition D, the folder itself no longer exists, or I can't find it. I created a download folder myself, but downloads are not placed there, but are placed on partition D. Is that original folder really gone now?
I suspect you chose “file redirect” when moving the downloads folder, so yes. Try the following. See if you can restore a restore point, that will save time: https://www.pc-tips.info/tips/windows-tips/windows-herstelpunt-maken-en-terugzetten-uitgebreide-instructie/
Otherwise, download this file: https://pc-tips.info/downloads/downloadmap_herstellen.zip. Unzip the zip file, now save the files on D:\ (downloads). Right-click on the .bat file and click “Run as administrator”. The default downloads folder is then restored.
Greetings, Stefan
Hello, tampering is not a problem on a test PC. I suspect that you have worked with policy settings, adjusted them, etc. I cannot immediately determine from your response what exactly your question is. Please keep in mind that if you remove components such as OneDrive, Edge and Windows Defender, problems will arise. Not all of these can be solved. If you don't know how to handle certain things, I wouldn't delete them. It can be done on a test PC, but recovering afterwards is often very difficult. So I would restore the test PC via the settings or reinstall it.
Greetings, Stefan
Thanks for the tip. This works for some of the folders, but when I try to do this for the “images” folder, it displays a message that this is not possible due to the fact that there is a folder in the location that cannot be redirected. This is a remnant of Onedrive (which I have already deleted).
Any idea how to solve this?
Hi Jesper, I suspect that a remnant (folder) in OneDrive remains synced on the computer. Try to delete all of these shortcuts.
https://support.microsoft.com/nl-nl/office/bestanden-of-mappen-van-onedrive-verwijderen-21fe345a-e488-4fa7-932b-f053c1bebe8a#:~:text=Als%20u%20items%20uit%20de,balk%20boven%20aan%20de%20pagina.
Otherwise, reinstall OneDrive and check all references.
https://support.microsoft.com/nl-nl/office/installeer-onedrive-opnieuw-0660f354-6a69-46eb-b817-7f4e0d7b45b5
Then try again. This was my tip. Good luck!
Greetings, Stefan