How to Move Program Files to Another Drive in Windows?

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  • Published on
    August 10th, 2019
  • Updated on
    February 23, 2021
  • Read Time
    4 minutes

Want to move program files to another drive in Windows? If yes, then do follow this guide. Here, in this article, I will be discussing appropriate techniques to move program files and folders to another drive. So, before jumping to the solution directly let’s first check out the scenarios which are responsible to relocate program files.

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Scenarios to Relocate Program Files

Mainly there are two circumstances under which you need to relocate program files to another drive. 

Transfer Program Files to Different Physical Disk

In this case, the user usually have one or more spare physical hard drive and he/she install Windows on a smaller SSD. In order to get a better experience, the user may need to retain enough space of SSD and move program files/folders to another physical disk.

Move Files To the Drive on the Same Disk

Another scenario could be users may install a large number of applications, software, and games on their computer. All of these will be installed in program files by default. So, in order to prevent low disk space warning, the user may be required to shift program files to another drive.

Methods to Move Program Files to Another Drive

Below are two manual ways which will help in moving the program files to another drive. 

Method #1: Generate Directory Junction to Relocate Program Files to Another Drive

Follow the steps given below to easily relocate program files to another drive in Windows 10, 8, 7, etc. 

  1. Launch File Explorer and then browse to the root on the destination drive. Then Right-click >> select New >>Folder and add a name for the folder in which you will save program files on the disk.
  2. After that, open a new File Explorer wizard and browse to the source drive folder that consists of the program files. 
  3. Next, select the highlighted folder containing the program files that you need to move and hit Ctrl-C to copy the folder. Switch to the other File Explorer window and select the folder you have created and press Ctrl-V to paste the program files to the new drive.
  4. Now, select the other File Explorer window and click on to highlight folder containing the program files you moved, press the Delete button and then click Yes to confirm.
  5. Select File option and choose Open command prompt as admin and confirm the user access control prompt.
  6. Now, type mklink / j, using the full drive letter and path of the old and new locations of the program files and hit Enter.
  7. Finally, run the program to make sure it executes properly.

Method #2: Make Use of Move Feature to Relocate Program Files 

Windows also provide a Move feature to relocate program files and folders to another drive. Follow the steps listed below:

  1. First of all, click on the Windows icon. It is visible at the bottom-left corner of the display. With the help of this method, many apps available on the Windows store can be moved easily.
  2. Then, click on the Settings button.
  3. Now, click on Apps & Features.
  4. This will open a list of all installed apps.
  5. After that, select an app you need to move. You may see various types of buttons appear under its name.
  6. Now, click on Move option. Not all apps will have this option. If you cannot see this button, you will not be able to use this method for the specified program.
  7. Next, opt for a location on the new drive and open the new drive and then select a folder.
  8. Finally, click on Move the app and its data will now move to the new location properly.

If you face any difficulty in accessing program files then you can try Windows Data Recovery Software. You can also recover Deleted Folder in Windows 10

Conclusion

The article is describing the solutions to move program files to another drive in Windows. Above, I have mentioned the best possible solution to do so. You just need to perform the above-listed procedures. Hope it helps to resolve your query.

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