Can I move my documents folder to another drive and not have the files copy to the original folder?

Anonymous
2022-08-28T18:08:54+00:00

I need to move my documents folder to another drive but when I move it, it "copies" to the original drive. I am extremely frustrated by this since I don't have a lot of storage in my C: drive. Is there anyway I can not have this happen? If there is a way how do I stop this. I am on windows 11 and version 21H2. Thank you for taking the valuable time out of your day to read and potentially help me. If others are having this problem I hope there answer can be solved too.

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Files, folders, and storage

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  1. Anonymous
    2022-08-28T20:54:25+00:00

    This may help:

    Go to Settings > System > Advanced Storage settings > Where new content is saved

    31 people found this answer helpful.
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  2. Anonymous
    2022-08-28T21:13:42+00:00

    Hello Brian! I used the method you just listed but I'm not trying to copy it. I want to completely move the documents folder and not have it copy to the original folder. I hope this helped you understand what I'm trying to do!

    8 people found this answer helpful.
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  3. Brian Tillman [Outlook MVP 2007-2019] on Movate 23,960 Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2022-08-28T18:44:39+00:00

    Hi. I'm Brian and I will do my best to help you.

    What method are you trying to use to copy it? The easiest way I've found to move it to another drive is to use the Location property. Create a new Documents folder on another drive - like D:\Documents - then right-click the original Documents folder, choose Properties, select the Location tab, enter the path to the new Documents folder and click Move.

    59 people found this answer helpful.
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  4. Craig Long 17,435 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2022-08-28T19:29:34+00:00

    I need to move my documents folder to another drive but when I move it, it "copies" to the original drive. I am extremely frustrated by this since I don't have a lot of storage in my C: drive. Is there anyway I can not have this happen? If there is a way how do I stop this. I am on windows 11 and version 21H2. Thank you for taking the valuable time out of your day to read and potentially help me. If others are having this problem I hope there answer can be solved too.

    First of all, you need to determine whether your Documents are backing up to OneDrive or not. If they are backing up then you must either stop the backup of the Documents folder or move the entire OneDrive folder along with the Documents folder to another location.

    18 people found this answer helpful.
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  5. Anonymous
    2022-08-28T21:15:49+00:00

    I need to move my documents folder to another drive but when I move it, it "copies" to the original drive. I am extremely frustrated by this since I don't have a lot of storage in my C: drive. Is there anyway I can not have this happen? If there is a way how do I stop this. I am on windows 11 and version 21H2. Thank you for taking the valuable time out of your day to read and potentially help me. If others are having this problem I hope there answer can be solved too.

    First of all, you need to determine whether your Documents are backing up to OneDrive or not. If they are backing up then you must either stop the backup of the Documents folder or move the entire OneDrive folder along with the Documents folder to another location.

    How do I determine if my documents are backing up OneDrive?

    2 people found this answer helpful.
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