How to Change or Restore Default Location of Screenshots Folder in Windows 10
When you take a screenshot in Windows 10 by pressing the Win + Print Screen keys, the screenshot is saved into the C:\Users\<username>\Pictures\Screenshots (%UserProfile%\Pictures\Screenshots) folder by default.
If you like, you can change the default location of this Screenshots folder to where you want to have your screenshots saved to by default instead.
This tutorial will show you how to change or restore the default location of the Screenshots folder for your account in Windows 10.
Contents
- Option One: To Change Default Location of Screenshots Folder in Properties
- Option Two: To Restore Default Location of Screenshots Folder in Properties
- Option Three: To Restore Default Location of Screenshots Folder using a BAT file
EXAMPLE: Screenshots folder default location in File Explorer
OPTION ONE
To Change Default Location of Screenshots Folder in Properties
1 If you haven't already, you will need to
create a new folder named
Screenshots at the location (ex: "D:" ) you want to move your
Screenshots folder to.
2 In
File Explorer (Win+E), copy and paste
shell:screenshots into the address bar, and press
Enter to open the current location of the
Screenshots folder.
3 Right click or press and hold on an empty area in the Screenshots folder, and click/tap on
Properties. (see screenshot below)
4 Click/tap on the
Location tab, and click/tap on the
Move button. (see screenshot below)
5 Browse to and select the
Screenshots folder at the location (ex: "D:\Screenshots" ) from
step 1, and click/tap on
Select Folder. (see screenshot below)
6 Click/tap on
OK to apply. (see screenshot below)
7 Click/tap on
Yes to move all the files from the old location to the new location. (see screenshot below)
OPTION TWO
To Restore Default Location of Screenshots Folder in Properties
1 Open
File Explorer (Win+E), copy and paste
shell:screenshots into the address bar, and press
Enter to open the current location of the
Screenshots folder.
2 Right click or press and hold on an empty area in the Screenshots folder, and click/tap on
Properties. (see screenshot below)
3 Click/tap on the
Location tab, and click/tap on the
Restore Default button. (see screenshot below)
4 Click/tap on
OK to apply. (see screenshot below)
5 If the Screenshots folder does not exist at this default location, click/tap on
Yes to create it. (see screenshot below)
6 Click/tap on
Yes to move all files from the old location to the new location. (see screenshot below)
7 After a brief moment, your Screenshots folder will be restored to its default location (ex: "C:\Users\
Brink\Pictures\Screenshots").
OPTION THREE
To Restore Default Location of Screenshots Folder using a BAT file
1 Click/tap on the Download button below to download the BAT file below.
Restore_Screenshots_folder_default_location.bat
Download
Contents of .bat file for reference:
Code:
taskkill /f /im explorer.exe
timeout /t 2 /nobreak >nul
if not exist "%UserProfile%\Pictures\Screenshots" mkdir "%UserProfile%\Pictures\Screenshots"
reg add "HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders" /v "{B7BEDE81-DF94-4682-A7D8-57A52620B86F}" /t REG_EXPAND_SZ /d %%USERPROFILE%%"\Pictures\Screenshots" /f
attrib +r -s -h "%USERPROFILE%\Pictures\Screenshots" /S /D
timeout /t 1 /nobreak >nul
start explorer.exe
2 Save the .bat file to your desktop or where you like.
3 Unblock the .bat file, and
run the .bat file.
4 You will now notice your screen temporarily go black as a command prompt opens and closes as explorer is restarted to apply the registry changes.
5 Copy any files you wanted from the incorrect Screenshots folder location into the now restored default
C:\Users\<username>\Pictures\Screenshots folder location.
6 If you like, you can delete the incorrect Screenshots folder (not restored default folder).
7 When finished, you can delete the downloaded .bat file if you like.
That's it,
Shawn