How to move the Desktop to another drive in Windows 11 and Windows 10

The desktop in Windows is a normal folder, located on the C drive by default, and everything the user stores on the desktop takes up space on that drive. If you use the desktop as your primary location for storing files, this can cause your system drive to run out of space. In this situation it may make sense to move the desktop folder to another drive.

This step-by-step tutorial details two ways to change the location of the desktop folder, focusing on moving it to another drive, but you can also simply move the desktop to another folder on the same drive if you wish. The methods will work for Windows 11, Windows 10 and earlier versions of the system.

Change Desktop folder location using folder properties

The first method is preferred as Windows will do everything necessary and there should be no problems or errors. To move the Desktop to another drive, follow these steps:

1. Open a browser and in the left pane or under "Quick Access" right-click on the "Desktop" folder. Alternatively, go to C:\Nuser_name and right-click on the “Desktop” folder in that location. Select "Properties".
2. In the folder properties, go to the “Location” tab.
3. Click the "Move" button.
4. Navigate to a new drive and/or a new desktop folder and click “Select Folder”. It is better to create the folder in advance. I also don't recommend using the root of the drive for desktop files if you store anything else on that drive (otherwise all folders on that drive will be visible on the desktop).
5. Be sure to specify the correct path in the "Location" window - all files and folders on the desktop will be moved to this location. Click the OK button.
6. You will be prompted to move all the files from the old location to the new one – I recommend doing this if you don't plan on doing a manual move from the old folder.

You'll just have to wait for the migration process to complete – it can take a long time, especially if you've been actively “storing” large files on your desktop.

This will put all your desktop files on the new drive in the folder you specified and will not take up any space on your C drive.

Move Desktop to another drive in Registry Editor

You can also move the Desktop folder using Registry Editor if you wish, but note that this method will not move the files automatically: you will have to manually move all the files from C:\NCustomer Service (o C:\NCustomer Servicewhich is the same) to the new location you specified.

Process:

1. Press the keys Win + R on the keyboard (Win is the key with the Windows logo), type regedit and press Enter.
2. In the registry editor that opens, navigate to

   HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ User Shell Folders

3. Notice the parameter called “Desktop” – here you specify the location of the desktop folder.
4. To change the desktop folder, double-click the parameter Desk. Specify a new folder path (the folder must be created beforehand) and click «OK». If the folder path contains spaces, enclose it in quotes.
5. Close the registry editor.

Generally, a reboot is not necessary: ​​just move the files from the old “Desktop” folder to the new one manually to see them on the desktop, and if they do not appear after the move, right-click on an empty area of ​​the desktop and select “Refresh” from the context menu.: