How to change the default location of user files in Windows 10

User files (documents, music, photos, etc.) can take up allot of space on your computer. But if you have a second drive inside your computer you can easily move your user folders to it. Here's how to change the default location of user files in Windows 10.

Quite a few computers nowadays are coming with two drives, a Solid State Drive (SSD) and a Hard Disk Drive (HDD). Since SSD's are generally smaller in size and faster than HDD's, they normally are used just for the operating system and program files. User files should always be moved to the HDD to conserve space on the SSD.

Now there are six (6) user file folders that can be relocated: Desktop, Documents, Downloads, Music, Pictures and Videos. Before you change locations of the user files / folders you will need to create new folders to move them to.

I usually create a folder called User Files in the root of the D: drive and then create the individual folders for each user; example D:\User Files\username\Desktop, D:\User Files\username\Documents, etc.

How to change the default location of user files in Windows 10

1. Open File Explorer by either left-clicking on the File Explorer icon on the Taskbar, left-clicking on the Start button and selecting File Explorer, right-clicking on the Start button and selecting File Explorer from the Power Users menu or by pressing the Windows logo key + E.
2. In the left-hand column, expand This PC so that the following folders are shown: Desktop, Documents, Downloads, Music, Pictures and Videos.
   
3. Right-click on the folder you want to move and from the context menu that appears, left-click on Properties.
4. On the dialog box that appears, left-click on the Location tab.
   
5. Left-click on the Move button.
   
6. Navigate to the new location for the folder. Once you have selected the folder you want to use, left-click on the Select Folder button.
7. Left-click on the Apply button in the lower right-hand corner.
8. In the confirmation dialog box that appears, left-click on Yes.
9. Left-click on the OK button in the lower left-hand corner.

How to restore the default location of user files in Windows 10

1. Open File Explorer by either left-clicking on the File Explorer icon on the Taskbar, left-clicking on the Start button and selecting File Explorer, right-clicking on the Start button and selecting File Explorer from the Power Users menu or by pressing the Windows logo key + E.
2. In the left-hand column, expand This PC so that the following folders are shown: Desktop, Documents, Downloads, Music, Pictures and Videos.
3. Right-click on the folder you want to move and from the context menu that appears, left-click on Properties.
4. On the dialog box that appears, left-click on the Location tab.
5. Left-click on the Restore Default button.
6. Left-click on the Apply button in the lower right-hand corner.
7. In the Create Folder dialog box that appears, left-click on Yes.
8. In the confirmation dialog box that appears, left-click on Yes.
9. Left-click on the OK button in the lower left-hand corner.