Moving Personal folders off of C: in Win11

Question

Using latest updated Windows 11 and with OneDrive active I'm trying to move Personal\Desktop ...\Downloads, ...\Documents and etc. from C: to D:. After successfully moving Desktop I keep getting the message,

"Can't move the folder because there is a folder in the same location that can't be redirected. Access is denied."

What should I be doing?

By the way there is an answer for general moving these folders that does not address this issue.

Thanks, Jim J.

Answer 1

If you use OneDrive to back up your PC and with the backup toggled ON in Manage Backup, then simply moving the OneDrive folder will also move your personal backed-up data.

Change the location of your OneDrive folder

Back up your folders with OneDrive

Answer 2

This usually happens because the personal folder was redirected to another personal folder or into OneDrive, and Windows then blocks moving it again through the Location tab.

With OneDrive active, the first step is to stop OneDrive from protecting the folders being moved:

1. Select the OneDrive cloud icon in the notification area.
2. Open Settings.
3. Go to Sync and backup > Manage backup.
4. Turn off backup for the folder being moved, such as Documents or Desktop.

If the folder is still stuck or still shows Access is denied, reset that folder’s shell-folder path back to its default value.

Warning: Editing the registry incorrectly can cause serious problems. Back up the registry before making changes.

1. Right-click Start and select Run.
2. Type regedit.exe and press Enter.
3. Go to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders
4. Find the affected folder and set it back to its default value:
   • Downloads → {374DE290-123F-4565-9164-39C4925E467B} → %USERPROFILE%\Downloads
   • Desktop → Desktop → %USERPROFILE%\Desktop
   • Documents → Personal → %USERPROFILE%\Documents
   • Pictures → My Pictures → %USERPROFILE%\Pictures
   • Music → My Music → %USERPROFILE%\Music
   • Videos → My Video → %USERPROFILE%\Videos
   • Favorites → Favorites → %USERPROFILE%\Favorites
5. Restart Explorer.exe, or sign out and sign back in, or restart the PC.

After that, move the folders again the supported way:

1. Create the target folders first on D:, such as D:\Documents, D:\Downloads, D:\Pictures.
2. In File Explorer, right-click each personal folder under the profile.
3. Select Properties > Location > Move....
4. Select the matching folder created on D: and confirm.

Important points:

• Do not move the entire user profile off C:. Move only the shell folders like Documents, Pictures, and Downloads.
• Do not point one personal folder at another personal folder. Each one should have its own separate folder on D:.
• If a folder was mapped into OneDrive, it may need to be reset to default first before moving it to D:.

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References:

• Back up your folders with OneDrive
• Operation to change a personal folder location fails in Windows
• move user folders from c: drive to d: drive windows 11 pro - Microsoft Q&A Hi
• Get access denied error while reset it's path to the default location, how can i fix it? - Microsoft Q&A