Change or Restore Default Location of Screenshots Folder in Windows 10  

    Change or Restore Default Location of Screenshots Folder in Windows 10

    Change or Restore Default Location of Screenshots Folder in Windows 10

    Published by Category: Customization
    08 Sep 2020
    Designer Media Ltd

    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
    Change or Restore Default Location of Screenshots Folder in Windows 10-screenshots_folder.png






    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)

    Change or Restore Default Location of Screenshots Folder in Windows 10-move_screenshots_folder_default_location-1.png

    4 Click/tap on the Location tab, and click/tap on the Move button. (see screenshot below)

    Change or Restore Default Location of Screenshots Folder in Windows 10-move_screenshots_folder_default_location-2.png

    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)

    Change or Restore Default Location of Screenshots Folder in Windows 10-move_screenshots_folder_default_location-3.png

    6 Click/tap on OK to apply. (see screenshot below)

    Change or Restore Default Location of Screenshots Folder in Windows 10-move_screenshots_folder_default_location-4.png

    7 Click/tap on Yes to move all the files from the old location to the new location. (see screenshot below)

    Change or Restore Default Location of Screenshots Folder in Windows 10-move_screenshots_folder_default_location-5.png






    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)

    Change or Restore Default Location of Screenshots Folder in Windows 10-restore_screenshots_folder_default_location-1.png

    3 Click/tap on the Location tab, and click/tap on the Restore Default button. (see screenshot below)

    Change or Restore Default Location of Screenshots Folder in Windows 10-restore_screenshots_folder_default_location-2.png

    4 Click/tap on OK to apply. (see screenshot below)

    Change or Restore Default Location of Screenshots Folder in Windows 10-restore_screenshots_folder_default_location-3.png

    5 If the Screenshots folder does not exist at this default location, click/tap on Yes to create it. (see screenshot below)

    Change or Restore Default Location of Screenshots Folder in Windows 10-restore_screenshots_folder_default_location-4.png

    6 Click/tap on Yes to move all files from the old location to the new location. (see screenshot below)

    Change or Restore Default Location of Screenshots Folder in Windows 10-restore_screenshots_folder_default_location-5.png

    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






  1. Posts : 27
    Windows 10
       #1

    Help


    Need help on this. Default location has been changed. But when I screen save it creates a picture folder under my used name and screen shots are saved at some unknown location. Changing default location under properties dose not work. Screen shot ignores it and follows some other commands.
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 68,543
    64-bit Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
    Thread Starter
       #2

    Portagie68 said:
    Need help on this. Default location has been changed. But when I screen save it creates a picture folder under my used name and screen shots are saved at some unknown location. Changing default location under properties dose not work. Screen shot ignores it and follows some other commands.
    Hello,

    Just to verify, did you change the default location of your Pictures folder or user profile folder?
      My Computers


  3. Posts : 27
    Windows 10
       #3

    Reply


    Tried to change save location of Screen Shots. Screen shots save where ever it wanted to regardless of the change. What I finally had to do was research how to get rid of camera and saved folders. Found answer deleted registry keys for both, changed pictures in documents folder to pictures2, copy picture folder form under user name to documents/pictures2. (this merged the 2 folders), then I changed the documents pictures2 to pictures and that fixed the problem. Screen shots was always suppose to be saved in pictures/documents but something in the screen shot program made it create a new pictures folder under the user name. When I cut and pasted this to picture2 the screen shot programed followed to the location it was supposed to be save at. Until then it saved it self where it wanted 2. ,
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 68,543
    64-bit Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
    Thread Starter
       #4

    Portagie68 said:
    Tried to change save location of Screen Shots. Screen shots save where ever it wanted to regardless of the change. What I finally had to do was research how to get rid of camera and saved folders. Found answer deleted registry keys for both, changed pictures in documents folder to pictures2, copy picture folder form under user name to documents/pictures2. (this merged the 2 folders), then I changed the documents pictures2 to pictures and that fixed the problem. Screen shots was always suppose to be saved in pictures/documents but something in the screen shot program made it create a new pictures folder under the user name. When I cut and pasted this to picture2 the screen shot programed followed to the location it was supposed to be save at. Until then it saved it self where it wanted 2. ,
    I'm glad to hear you got it sorted out. Sounds like some folders may have been moved by mistake.
      My Computers


  5. Posts : 27
    Windows 10
       #5

    Incorrect


    Folders had not been moved by mistake Windows 10 program refused to except the changes made by your bat files and other info until it was forced to. I forced it for sure
      My Computer


 

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