How To Change Default Hard Drive Windows 8

The default save locations used by Windows on PCs tin can be inverse and this can solve space problems on a small drive like an SSD. You can besides salve files to the cloud and access them anywhere.

Deejay drives grew in size and even terabyte monsters considering available in upkeep PCs, simply then the space shrank in new PCs as solid country drives (SSDs) became popular. There are budget laptop PCs now with 64 GB or even just 32 GB of storage infinite. How on earth tin y'all cope with such a pocket-sized bulldoze?

Whether you have a lot of storage infinite or a little, you lot accept the option to move the default locations for documents, photos, movies and so on. A unlike partition or disk drive tin be used if the C: bulldoze is small or nearly full and storing everything elsewhere can assist to solve space issues.

Add an extra drive so set the save locations to information technology. Alternatively, files tin can be saved to OneDrive and stored online instead of on the deejay.

Fix save locations in Windows 10 Settings

Click the Search box in the taskbar and enter save locations, then click the result at the meridian. Another style to get there is to open the Settings app and click System > Storage > Change where new content is saved.

Set where new content is saved in Windows 10

This will not motion existing folders and files, but new content is saved to the drives yous choose. I accept a D: drive labelled Extra and it can be selected as a default location for diverse types of content.

Move the Documents and other folders

Information technology is possible to motility the Documents, Pictures, Music and Videos folders by right clicking them and selecting Properties on the carte that is displayed. Select the Location tab and then click Move to choose a new drive or partition for the folder.

Move the Documents folder in Windows

That can be useful if the bulldoze is well-nigh full and you lot want to create space past using an external drive. If y'all apply another bulldoze, such every bit a USB drive, make sure it is always powered upward and plugged into the PC before starting Windows or problems may occur.

Tiny thumb drives are available that you can exit plugged into the PC all the time and you could motility these arrangement folders to information technology to brand space.

Store files online in OneDrive

OneDrive is built into Windows 10 and 5 GB of free infinite online is provided. That is not enough for photos, videos or music, but you could shop documents online. Of course, if you pay for actress storage or take it with a Microsoft Office subscription, you can put all your folders online.

Right click OneDrive in the sidebar of an Explorer window and select Settings on the carte du jour. Select the Auto-save tab.

Set the OneDrive save locations in OneDrive app settings

Choose where to save files. The options here enable you to choose whether to use the Desktop, Documents and Pictures folders in C:\Users\YourName or the ones in the OneDrive folder. Salve a file to the Documents folder for example and it is saved to the location fix here.

There are ii more options and photos and videos tin can automatically be saved to the C:\Users\YourName\Pictures or the OneDrive\Pictures folder.

Store files online in OneDrive to salvage space

By default, a binder on the PC'due south disk mirrors all the folders and files stored online in OneDrive. However, it is possible to shop files just online, which frees up a lot of disk space on the PC.

Right click OneDrive in the sidebar in Explorer and select Settings. Select the Settings tab if information technology is not automatically selected.

Set OneDrive in Windows to store files online with Files on demand

Tick the box in the Files on Demand section. This tells OneDrive to store files online and not on the PC. Click OK to close this window and then right click OneDrive in Explorer's sidebar and there is now a new option to articulate space.

This deletes the files off the PC'due south drive, freeing upwardly infinite. Don't worry, they are safely stored online. Open the OneDrive binder on the PC and everything looks normal because the files are replaced with shortcuts which, when clicked, download and open the file. Basically, it looks like all the files are on the disk just they are actually online.

Windows downloads files in the background when they are needed. Don't forget to right click OneDrive and articulate infinite occasionally to remove local copies of files and complimentary up space.

In the previous department we set up the default locations for Desktop, Documents and Pictures to OneDrive, and now with Files on Demand enabled, those default locations are in the deject.

A really nice characteristic of this is that every Windows computer you utilise will use the online locations as defaults, so there is one Documents binder across all your computers for instance.

The C:\Users\YourName\Documents binder, and Pictures and Desktop, still be, so y'all might want to motion your files and folders to the OneDrive versions of these folders. Then articulate space and then they are online.

Set default save locations in Windows 8

Few people use Windows 8.1 these days, but just in example you lot are one of them, I'll leave this here. It was written some time ago when Windows 8 was the latest version of Microsoft's Os.

Create a new certificate or file in an application in Windows viii, then go to the Save facility and y'all might discover that information technology always defaults to the same location – OneDrive. It might be irritating if you don't desire to utilise that location and it is possible to plow off this feature. Not all programs utilise the default save location, but it'southward worth knowing how to configure it.

Get to the Start screen and enter save location. Click the search result beneath, Cull a default save location for your files.

Use Windows 8 search

This takes you to OneDrive settings and another way to get here is to go to the charms on the right and click Settings, Change PC settings, OneDrive, File storage.

OneDrive is the default save location

The option, Save documents to OneDrive by default can be turned off past clicking the button. Restart Windows afterwards.

This won't bear on all programs, just those that are designed to use the default relieve location.