Want to move the documents folder from its default location to another drive in Windows 10? It is pretty easy to do. Here is how.
The default location of the Documents folder in Windows 10 is “C:\Users\Username\Documents.” For a vast majority of users, the default Documents location is good enough. However, there might be situations where you want to move the documents folder to another drive. For example, maybe the C drive space is filling up, want to sync the folder with your favorite cloud service, to make sure you can access the documents folder even when you cannot boot into Windows, etc. No matter the reason, if you ever need it, you can quickly move the documents folder in Windows 10.
Being a system folder, you cannot simply Cut and Paste the folder wherever you want. You have to use the Move Folder option to move folders from one place to another.
In this simple Windows 10 guide, I will show you the steps to move the documents folder to another drive in Windows 10.
Before proceeding, I strongly recommend you backup vital documents. It is better to be safe than sorry. The below steps all work in Windows 7 and Windows 8.
Move the Documents folder to another drive
There are two significant steps to moving a folder. First, you need to create a new folder in a drive to move the folder. For example, if you want to move the Documents folder to the D drive, you create a new folder called “Documents” in the D drive. After that, move the folder using the “Move” option.
Follow these steps to move the documents folder in Windows 10.
- Open the File Explorer.
- Go to the driver where you want to move the Documents folder.
- Create a new folder and name it “Documents.”
- Next, go to the “C:\users\YourUsername” folder.
- Right-click on the “Documents” folder.
- Select “Properties.”
- Go to the “Locations” tab.
- Click the “Move” button.
- Find the folder you created earlier.
- Select it and click “Select Folder.”
- Click “Apply.”
- Click “Ok.”
- Push “Yes” in the warning window.
- With that, the Documents folder is moved.
First, open the File Explorer and go to the drive where you want to move the Documents folder. Next, right-click, select “New -> Folder,” type “Documents” as the name, and press “Enter.” In my case, I created the folder in the D drive.
After that, go to the “C:\users\Username” folder. Replace “Username” with your actual username. Next, right-click on the “Documents” folder and select the “Properties” option.
Go to the “Location” tab and click the “Move” button.
Now, go to the folder you created earlier, select it, and click the “Select Folder” button. Click “Ok” in the main window.
As soon as you do that, Windows will ask if you want to move all the data from the old location to the new location. Click “Yes” to continue. If you click “No,” the old location’s data will not be moved to the new location.
That is all. With that, you have moved the Documents folder to another location.
More about the Documents folder
Even user in Windows OS gets their Home folder within the C drive. It contains all the default folders like Downloads, Music, Videos, Pictures, Favorites, etc. Documents is one such folder. You can go to the “C:\Users\Username” location to see all the default folders.
Windows and other applications use these default folders to store and save relevant data. As you can guess, these folders allow you to categorize files based on their file type. For example, when trying to save a document in Word, it might automatically show the Documents folder as the destination. For images, Windows might take you to the Pictures folder as the default destination. Of course, if you don’t want to use the default folders, you can choose any other folder you want. Some applications even let you set a custom folder as the default destination.
That is it. It is that simple to move the documents folder to another drive in Windows 10.
By following the same steps, you can also move the Downloads folder.
I hope that helps. If you are stuck or need some help, comment below, and I will try to help as much as possible.
