Move Location of Documents Folder in Windows 10  

Brink said:

Usually the app/game will just continue using the location it has always been using if it doesn't use the new location. It really depends on how the location was specified in the app/game. It shouldn't be a big issue though since you can always change the location in the app/game as needed, or just move the Documents folder back to default if too many issues.

For example:

"C:\Users\<username>\Documents" - Would most likely not use the new location.

"%UserProfile%\Documents" - Would use the new location.

Documents folder selected in This PC - Would use the new location.

Thanks very much Shawn for the info and explanation

Hi,

Just a comment regarding an issue some some people had, like sonicwind and myself...
I messed up moving Documents folder location to D:\

Personally, I've ALWAYS done that: changing the target of the Documents shortcut to the root of the D:\ drive.
I've done that on Windows 95, XP and 7 (I skipped all the other versions of Windows).

And I can tell, we can even easily reproduce it, that on all those versions of Windows it was working perfectly fine.
The Documents shortcut in Windows Explorer was properly named "Documents" and it had its specific icon.

But clearly, there was a change with Windows 10. If we do that now (and I've seen that on 2 PCs)...
- the shortcut name under "This PC" is not named "Documents" any more but "D:"
- its icon becomes the icon of a file
- if we look at the shortcut properties > Customize, we can't change/personalize the icon any more
- but its Desktop.ini file is normal, it includes the appropriate settings...

Code:

[.ShellClassInfo]
LocalizedResourceName=@%SystemRoot%\system32\shell32.dll,-21770
IconResource=%SystemRoot%\system32\imageres.dll,-112
IconFile=%SystemRoot%\system32\shell32.dll
IconIndex=-235

That said, I've not noticed any other issue than this aesthetic one.

Even sonicwind did not mention any; apart from the fact that he wanted to changed what he did to create a Documents folder and move the target again, this time to the new Documents folder (which was not possible easily as it was inside his current target).

So to make it clear, this option to choose the root of a drive instead of a folder has been working fine for 20 years, but since Windows 10, it now has a side effect on the shortcut name and icon.

Any one knows if this aesthetic issue can be fixed?
(as it's for me still an option as I've not found any functional issue generated by this setting)

Thanks!

I used to have the same issue. Now I just create a Documents folder on the new drive and move the built-in Documents to the new Documents. I also use that partition to move the Desktop folder and the Outlook folder and still keep the three separate.

FTP said:

But clearly, there was a change with Windows 10. If we do that now (and I've seen that on 2 PCs)...
- the shortcut name under "This PC" is not named "Documents" any more but "D:"
- its icon becomes the icon of a file
- if we look at the shortcut properties > Customize, we can't change/personalize the icon any more
- but its Desktop.ini file is normal, it includes the appropriate settings...
Thanks!

Hello!
I got the similar result.
I have moved User Folders (Documents, Music,) to the Data(D:) drive followed by Brink tutorial. These new folders do not look like they should:
- their icon do not have yellow folder, they have only icon of a file with letter “A” or icon of G-clef.

But the shortcut name under "This PC" is still named "Documents".

I did a clean installation of Windows 10 Pro x64. I installed all drivers from Gigabyte website. I did not connect the Internet yet. These folders are not part of a HomeGroup and not protected by OneDrive.

Should I reinstall Windows or it will work OK, just aesthetic issue?
Thanks.

Actually everything is as it should be :) Documents, Music and Pictures are "special" folders with icons meant to give a visual clue to their content.
You can right click on the shortcut name under "This PC" named "Documents" to check it's location. It should point to D:\Documents.

Cyanna said:

It should point to D:\Documents.

It does, Thank you :)

shurzota said:

Should I reinstall Windows or it will work OK, just aesthetic issue?

So far it's only aesthetic.
I've never found any other issue and I'm sure it must be possible to fix this aesthetic issue.