Folder location conflict?

So, like in older versions of Windows I can go into the properties of my Documents/Downloads/etc folders and pick the exact location I want them to be at. Most programs will obey that setting for the most part.

Now, in the new Settings app in Windows 10 under System>Storage there is an option for the same thing but it's not in sync with the "properties" setting. It also doesn't let you pick a path, just the drive you want. This leads to funny stuff happening with half things going to one place and half to the other.

It's been like that for a while now... How did they miss that? Such a silly mistake but making my life harder with setting up backups and file shares. Any way to fiddle with this and perhaps make it so I can enter the full path and sync the two settings?

dalchina said:

Hi, have a look at this and the discussion following. My view- MS has introduced something very confusing and as far as I can see unnecessary. I could well be wrong.
Storage Save Locations - Change in Windows 10 - Windows 10 Forums

(Note that a few who've relocated folders via Properties have experienced difficulties at some stage. Feel free to search the forum for related posts).

That has nothing to do with my problem though :/

I don't use Quick Access or Libraries. I simply want to set a specific location for my user folders on a specific drive, just like I've been doing it on previous versions of Windows. The very same setting still exists in Windows 10, but now there's also the Settings app that conflicts with it. It doesn't let you pick a full path, but just the drive. Adding it to a library doesn't make a difference for my scenario whatsoever.

Edit: Oh, I read the discussion bellow. Well, I wouldn't mind it if it was simply a less powerful UI to do the same thing. Problem is that is conflicts with my other setting. If I leave it to C:\ it will create folders and certain software will use that, completely ignoring the location setting under the folder's properties. If I choose the drive that I've set the other setting to, it will create folders under different path and still have the same problem with some software using that and some the other. So silly...

Kari said:

This is your own mistake, it's you who are giving Windows conflicted orders in two different places.
If you use the Location tab in folder properties, that's it. You should not change anything in Settings app.

In this case, of course, you need to leave the Save locations in Settings app to default This PCIf you instead want to use Save locations in Settings app, you should not touch the location settings in folder properties.
Think logically: why would you go to two different places to change one setting which these two places both treat differently?

That is a very silly design. One setting that renders the other useless? I have it set up exactly like you said, it's set to "This PC" in the settings app and the actual path I want is set under properties.

Maybe it's the specific software's fault, because some things like Viber did default to C even before the settings app had such an option. Other software like 3Dmark also likes to go to C instead of the location I've set in properties.

The thing is, how could it be considered *normal* that there are two different places for the same setting, that can be (or should be, liek you suggest) set with different settings? So the normal funtionality is "whatever you set last, is the one that works and the other one is ignored". It's a horrible design, definitely not how it should be.

But if you are right, then it should ignore the setting app now. I hope that's the case, we'll see. Thank you for your reply.

Kari said:

The thing here you are missing is that they are not the same setting. One lets you freely locate your personal folders where ever you want to, even with another name (Location tab in folder properties), the other lets you to choose a drive where these folders will be stored with their original names under main folder named with the name of your user profile. (Save locations in Settings)

Two different things, two different settings.

Kari

Alright, I understand that, but that's still a weird design because it's not like you can turn one of those settings on or off. So we have these facts:

• The settings app will as you say just let you pick the drive you want and it will put the folders with the original structure.
• The "location" settings lets you freely pick the full path.

So, with no way of turning one of those settings "off", how can one tell which setting is being used? Prior to the update that added this functionality in the settings app, there were no user folders on my C: drive because I've relocated them to a different drive. Now after the update and while my location settings remained the same, those folders showed up in my C: drive and are being used by a handful of programs.

This, again, makes no sense in my head. After our conversation I'm still not 100% sure of what's going on with my current settings. Yes, "they are not the same", but they are both messing with the same thing both at the same time. Is the "location" setting being preferred? Or the settings app? It's redundant and creates confusion. In the end of the day Windows now creates two different sets of user folders no matter how I set any of the two different settings, while that wasn't the case before, and there is no information anywhere whatsoever to make clear which one of the two is "default".