How do I easily move my Documents folder to a different drive?

Question

My windows 10 installation got hosed during an update. I've installed a new SSD drive and reinstalled Windows 10 from scratch. My old hard drive is still attached to my computer and I'd like to use it for Documents, Downloads. etc. to save space on the SSD.

I've followed the instructions to move the location of the Documents folder but I keep getting a message that it can't move the folder because there is already in the same location that can't be redirected. I've tried unlinking OneDrive but it didn't help.

How do I easily change the location of the Documents folder? (why does this have to be so difficult?)

Answer 1

To move the user shell folder to a different drive you need to right-click the user shell folder > Properties > Location tab > select the folder which will allocate that folder (not the drive). If this is not working, you need to do it on the registry.

Create the folder you want to move on the other disk, (Documents, Pictures)

On the Start Menu type regedit and press enter.

On the Registry editor go to this key (you can copy and paste on the address bar):

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders

You will see these values in the image below:

Double-click and change the values circled in green to change the Documents folder location. (Use the location of the folder you created before)

E.g.: D:\Documents

Double-click and change the values circle in red to change the Pictures folder location. (Use the location of the folder you created before)

E.g.: D:\Pictures

After the procedure, you need to manually move the files to the new location, restart the computer to apply the changes in the registry.

Answer 2

Also, I'm still having problems moving the Documents and Picture folders to the other old drive. It keeps telling me that there is a folder in the same location that can't be redirected. Powershell didn't work either, it just skips the folders. I did notice that both of these folders have their target in my user folder OneDrive folder (I've unlinked my PC). I managed to move my Downloads, Music, and Videos folders. How do I correctly move the Documents and Pictures folders without causing problems again?

Answer 3

I apologize that this did not resolve the issue. I'm running out of ideas regarding this specific issue. Since this is an open forum, let's see if another community member has a better solution to the issue. Kindly allow them time to research and respond accordingly.

Regards,

Nicole

Answer 4

OK, I did manage to get the old disk formatted. I used the windows installation disk and command prompt to clean the disk using diskpart.

I still need to figure out how to redirect the Documents and Pictures folders to a different disk.

Thanks

Answer 5

Thanks for the detailed steps, using the Registry Editor worked but it scares me.