Windows 10: Questions about moving Picture, Document folders to secondary drive

Hello,

I have a new Windows 10 Pro laptop with a SSD for the OS and a 1 TB hard drive for storage. I have been trying to follow the tutorial How to Move Your Pictures Folder Location in Windows 10 to move the documents, music, and pictures folders to the 1TB drive, without much success.

I have followed the steps several times, and one of two things happens. Either the file "is" copied - a file is created at the new location, but the same file also exists in the original location, and the start menu icons still link to the original folder. And/or the file is copied to the 1TB drive, and it links properly, but when I save something in that file, it also is saved in the original file. For some reason, it seems that the file was copied, not moved, and I think the result is going to be duplication of saved files.

I had thought that restarting the laptop after I made these changes would set things right, but so far, that has not happened.

I just used the Video folder as my test since I don't anticipate saving many videos, so each time, I chose to revert to the default location before starting over. Each time it said that the original folder did not exist, but it would create a new one - which it seemed it did back into the original location, and the linking is intact.

I am not sure what I am doing wrong, but I know that there should be a way to move these folders so that they retain the link from the start menu icons to the D drive locations. Is the missing step the need to also tell the laptop where the default save location is as is described in this tutorial Change Save Location for New Apps in Windows 10 ? I know it is about apps, but further down it does also discuss documents etc. I did not do this - should I have?

Thanks for any help. This has been a bit frustrating, as it makes perfect sense int he tutorial, and I just can't quite figure out why it won't work.

LH

:)

 

Quick Access not searching Pictures folder


Summary, that last suggestion didn't work.

• I moved the pictures to another folder temporarily.

• Then I tried to remove the Pictures folder with option one at Add or Remove Folders from This PC in Windows 10 | Windows 10 Tutorials. Even after rebooting, the Pictures folder remained.
• So I tried using option two. Same thing: reboot >> Pictures folder still there.

• Since there were no troubleshooting steps for this scenario, just for the heck of it, I ran through the restore steps. Copied some pictures into the Pictures folder, ran a Quick Access search and initial problem remains: Searching all of QA doesn't find any files in Pictures folder, running search on just the Pictures folder does. I want to run a global search and find matching files in any/all of the Documents, Music, Videos, and Pictures folders.

That article dates from 2015 and I'm guessing is out of date. I hope it didn't create potential future problems in my registry.

Bottom line: I'm still looking for a fix.

 

Moving Librariy files and folders to secondary hard drive

Hi Bailey,

We appreciate you for being part of Windows 10.

Yes, as you said you will face problems if you cut and paste the library folders to the new hard drive. If you cut and paste the libraries folder some of the Windows functions such as Downloads, Music, Pictures and Videos
will not work properly

If you want to access the library folders in the new hard drive, I suggest you to copy the Library folders (Documents, Music, Pictures and Videos). Follow the steps to copy the library folders.

• 
  Press Windows + E keys on the keyboard to open Windows explorer.
  
• 
  Find the Libraries on the left navigation pane of the Windows Explorer. (If libraries are not there, click on
  View tab at the top of Windows explorer, click on Navigation pane and select the
  Show Libraries)
  
• 
  Now, right click on Libraries from the left navigation pane and click on
  Copy.
  
• 
  Open the new hard drive and paste the Libraries folder by pressing
  CTRL + V key on the keyboard. (paste the libraries folders on the new hard drive where ever you want)
  

As you have less space on the primary hard drive, I suggest you to follow the below article to free up drive space.

Free up drive space in Windows 10

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-10/free-up-drive-space

I hope the above information helps. Kindly let us know if you need any further assistance with Windows. We are glad to assist you.

Thank you.

 

Suddenly, Documents folder has moved to Downloads

We appreciate the details you've provided. To address your issue, we suggest that you follow these steps on how to move your Documents Folder Location in Windows 10:

• You need to create a new folder named Documents at the location you want to move your personal Documents folder.
• Press Win + E to open File Explorer, right-click
  Documents, and select Properties.
• Select the Location tab and click the Move button.
• Browse and select the new Documents folder at the location you want to move the folder Documents. Click the
  Select Folder.
  
• Click OK to apply.
• Click Yes to move all the files from the old location to the new location.
• Your personal Documents folder and all of its contents will now be moved to the new location.

Let us know if you need further assistance.