Windows 11 has a powerful built-in feature called Xbox Game Bar that allows you to take screenshots and record your gameplay footage with just a few key presses. By default, these game captures are automatically saved to the Captures folder within your user directory (C:\Users\YourUsername\Videos\Captures). While the default location is good enough for most users, you might want to change this default location of the Captures folder for various reasons.
For instance, maybe you are running low on C drive storage space, want to organize your files in a different drive, prefer using a high-capacity HDD for storage, etc.
Whatever the reason, Windows 11 allows you to customize the default folder where it saves your recorded gameplay footage and screenshots using the File Explorer options. In this tutorial, I will show you the step-by-step process to change the default game captures folder in Windows 11. Let’s get started.
Change the Game Captures Folder Location in Windows 11
- Press “Windows key + E” to open File Explorer.
- Navigate to the drive/folder where you want to save the new “Captures” folder.
- Right-click, select “New” > “Folder”, and name it “Captures.”
- Go to “C:\Users\YourUsername\Videos” in File Explorer. Replace “YourUsername” with your actual username.
- Right-click on the original “Captures” folder and select “Properties.”
- In the Properties window, click the “Location” tab.
- Click the “Move” button.
- Browse to and select the new “Captures” folder you created in step 3.
- Click “Select Folder.”
- Click “Apply” and then “OK.”
- When prompted, click “Yes” to move all files from the old location to the new one.
- You’ve now successfully changed the default location of the Game Captures folder in Windows 11.
Detailed Steps (With Screenshots)
Before changing the Captures folder location, you need to create a new folder in the desired location. To do this, open File Explorer (you can use the Windows key + E shortcut or click the folder icon in the taskbar). Next, navigate to the drive or folder where you want to move your game captures. Once there, right-click in an empty space and select “New” from the context menu, then choose “Folder” from the submenu. Finally, name this new folder “Captures“.

Next, go to the following folder location while replacing “YourUsername” with your actual username.
C:\Users\YourUsername\Videos
Right-click on the original “Captures” folder and select the “Properties” option from the context menu.

Go to the “Location” tab in the “Properties” window and click the “Move” button.

Now, browse to the new folder you created in the first step, select it, and click the “Select Folder” button.

Click the “Apply” button, then the “OK” button in the main window to save the changes.

Windows will prompt you to move the data from the old location to the new location. Click the “Yes” button to continue.
That’s it. You’ve now changed the default location of the game capture folder in Windows 11. From now on, whenever you record your gameplay or take screenshots with Xbox Game Bar, they will be automatically saved to the new folder instead of the old location.
Wrapping Up — Changing the Default Location of the Game Capture Folder
As you can see, also Windows 11 doesn’t directly support selecting a folder of your choice directly in the Settings app, you can move the Captures folder to the drive or folder of your choice to change its default location. In fact, as of writing this, this is the official method that Microsoft recommends to change the default folder location of the game captures.
Thanks to this simple method, whether you’re moving captures to a larger drive or just want a different organization system, you now have the flexibility to do so.
If you have any questions or need help, comment below. I’ll be happy to assist. If you are using Windows 10, follow this guide instead.