Change the Default Save Location for Apps [Windows 11/10]
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Changing where Windows saves new apps takes four clicks: Settings → System → Storage, then open "Where new content is saved" (Windows 11 tucks it under Advanced storage settings; Windows 10 shows the link on the Storage page directly), pick a drive under "New apps will save to," and click Apply. From then on, Microsoft Store apps install to that drive instead of filling C:. But before you go, read one honest sentence that this page exists to say: that setting governs Microsoft Store apps only — your desktop programs, Steam games, and browser downloads ignore it completely, and each has its own lever, covered below. There is also a second trick most people miss: Windows can move an already-installed Store app to another drive without reinstalling it, and the button is one screen away.
Jake met the expensive version of this problem. A customer with a 128 GB laptop — C: drive glowing red, a roomy D: partition sitting empty — had "fixed" it himself: he selected Program Files, cut, and pasted it onto D:. Windows fought him over half the files, he skipped past the warnings, and by evening the Start menu was a graveyard of dead shortcuts and half his programs would not launch. Jake's repair was a system restore followed by the two tools this page teaches: the Move button for the Store apps that were eating the drive (his customer's biggest offenders were two Xbox games), and the where-new-content setting so the next install would land on D: by itself. Nothing about the real fix involves dragging folders — that is precisely the one move Windows cannot forgive.
Ethan: "Changing your address at the post office forwards the new mail — it doesn't teleport your house. The Move button is the moving truck for houses that can be moved. And some buildings — the courthouse, the bank — are bolted to their foundations: no truck, no forwarding form, they only ever stand where they were built. Know which of the three you're dealing with before you start lifting."
The main event: send new apps to another drive
- Open Settings (Windows key + I) → System → Storage.
- Windows 11: scroll to Advanced storage settings and expand it → click Where new content is saved. Windows 10: click the Change where new content is saved link right on the Storage page.
- Under "New apps will save to," open the dropdown and pick your drive — D:, an SD card, an external drive that stays plugged in.
- Click Apply. Windows creates the folder structure on the target drive on its own.
The same screen holds dropdowns for new documents, music, photos and videos, and offline maps — each category moves independently, so you can send bulky videos to D: while documents stay on C:. And a detail worth knowing before you peek at the new drive: Windows builds a WindowsApps folder there that it deliberately locks — double-clicking it gets you a permissions refusal, not your apps. That is by design (Store apps are sealed against tampering), not a sign the setting failed.
The trick nobody uses: move installed apps without reinstalling
- Settings → Apps → Installed apps (Windows 10: Apps & features).
- Find the space-eater — sorting by size puts the guilty parties on top.
- Windows 11: click the … menu on the app's row → Move. Windows 10: click the app → Move.
- Pick the destination drive and confirm. The app relocates with its data — no reinstall, no lost sign-ins, no re-download.
One honest expectation-setter: the Move button is not offered for everything. Store apps that shipped as part of Windows, and any app whose developer disallowed relocation, show the button grayed out or absent — that is the app's rule, not a fault you can fix. Where it shines is exactly where the pain is: big Store-delivered games and heavyweight apps, which move to D: in minutes and free real gigabytes.
The part the setting can't touch: desktop programs
Classic desktop software — the kind you download as an installer and click through — never asks Windows where new content is saved. Each installer decides for itself, which means the lever is in your hands at install time: choose "Custom" or "Advanced" instead of the express option, and edit the install path to your bigger drive. That single habit — always click Custom — is worth more free space over a laptop's life than any setting on this page. Three related honest notes:
- Already-installed desktop programs have no Move button. The clean route is uninstall → reinstall onto the other drive. The drag-the-folder shortcut is the one from Jake's story; it breaks registry paths and shortcuts, and it is never worth it.
- Steam has its own mover. Steam → Settings → Storage lets you create a library on another drive and migrate installed games between libraries — use that, not Windows, for Steam titles.
- The Xbox app asks per install and offers its own move option for its games — and games installed through the Store obey the where-new-content setting from section one.
Which lever for which problem
| Your goal | The right lever | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Future Store apps land on D: | "New apps will save to" | Settings → System → Storage → Where new content is saved |
| A huge installed Store app off C: | The Move button | Settings → Apps → Installed apps |
| A desktop program on another drive | The installer's Custom screen | During installation (or uninstall → reinstall) |
| Steam games on another drive | Steam's library mover | Steam → Settings → Storage |
| New documents/music/videos elsewhere | The per-category dropdowns | Same "Where new content is saved" screen |
Picking the target drive: three rules from the repair bench
Rule one: the drive must stay attached. Apps saved to an external drive or SD card vanish from the Start menu the moment the drive is unplugged and return when it is back — fine for a permanently-docked card, miserable for a drive you carry around. Rule two: speed shows. A Store game on a slow SD card loads like it is being read aloud; internal partitions and SSDs first, cards as a last resort. Rule three: this is relief, not rescue. If C: is critically full, moving apps buys room, but find out what is actually eating the drive before deciding — our guide to finding which files consume your storage does the detective work, and if the low-disk warnings themselves are your torment, that popup has its own honest page.
Undoing it all (nothing here is permanent)
Every move on this page reverses with the same tool that made it. Set the new-apps dropdown back to This PC (C:) and future installs come home — apps already on D: stay on D: until you Move them back individually with the same Move button, pointed the other way. The per-category dropdowns flip back just as freely, and folders already created on the target drive keep the files they hold; nothing is deleted by changing the setting. The one thing to avoid on the way back is the same thing to avoid on the way out: never relocate the sealed WindowsApps folder by hand.
The whole screen at a glance: every category, every rule
| Dropdown | What it redirects | What it does NOT touch |
|---|---|---|
| New apps will save to | Future Microsoft Store installs | Apps already installed; desktop programs; Steam |
| New documents will save to | Files new apps store in Documents | Existing files; where Word's Save-As dialog points by habit |
| New music / photos / videos will save to | Newly saved media in those libraries | Your existing collections — they stay put until you move them |
| New offline maps will save to | Downloaded map regions | Anything else — it is the tidiest, most forgettable dropdown here |
| (No dropdown exists) | — | Downloads (your browser's setting) and Desktop (its folder's Location tab) |
The pattern across every row is the same and worth internalizing: this screen is a forwarding address — it steers what arrives next and never relocates what already lives on the drive. Anything that exists today moves only when you move it: apps with their Move button, media by dragging files in Explorer (safe for your own files, unlike program folders), and the user folders through their Location tab.
Don't confuse this with the other "defaults"
Search brings three different crowds to pages like this one, so a quick signpost. If you wanted a different program to open your files — photos opening in the wrong app, links in the wrong browser — that is default apps, not default locations: our guides to changing the default photos app and setting your default browser handle those. If you wanted your Desktop and Documents folders on another drive, that is a third job again — each user folder has a Location tab in its Properties for exactly that, a safe and supported move. This page's job is the fourth one: where newly-installed apps and new files land.
FAQ — app save locations in Windows 11 and 10
How do I change where new apps are saved in Windows 11?
Settings → System → Storage → Advanced storage settings → Where new content is saved → set "New apps will save to" to your drive → Apply.
How do I change where new apps are saved in Windows 10?
Settings → System → Storage → click "Change where new content is saved" → pick the drive under "New apps will save to" → Apply. Same screen, one click shallower than Windows 11.
Does this setting affect desktop programs I download?
No — it governs Microsoft Store apps only. Desktop installers choose their own path; pick "Custom" during installation to point them at another drive.
Can I move an app that is already installed?
Store apps, often yes: Settings → Apps → Installed apps → the app's Move button — no reinstall needed. Desktop programs have no Move button; reinstall them to the new drive instead.
Why is the Move button grayed out or missing?
The app forbids relocation — built-in Windows apps and some third-party ones do. That is the app's packaging rule; there is no setting that overrides it.
Can I just cut and paste Program Files to another drive?
No — this is the classic self-inflicted disaster. Registry entries and shortcuts still point at the old paths, and programs break en masse. Use the Move button, installers' Custom screens, or uninstall-reinstall.
I can't open the WindowsApps folder on the new drive. Is that normal?
Completely. Windows seals that folder against tampering, on every drive it lives on. Your apps run from it fine; you are just not invited inside, and forcing your way in with ownership changes causes more problems than it solves.
Can I save new apps to an SD card or external drive?
Yes, if it is formatted NTFS and stays plugged in. Unplug it and those apps disappear from the Start menu until it returns. Speed is the other tax — games especially feel a slow card.
Does moving apps to D: make my PC faster?
Not by itself — it makes C: emptier, which helps when the drive was critically full. If D: is a slower disk than C:, the moved apps may actually launch slower. This is a space tool, not a speed tool.
What happens to moved apps if I unplug the drive they live on?
They gray out or vanish from the Start menu and refuse to launch until the drive is reconnected. Nothing is damaged — Windows just cannot reach them.
How do I move my Documents or Desktop folder to another drive?
Different job, proper tool: right-click the folder (Documents, Desktop, Downloads…) → Properties → Location tab → Move. Windows offers to migrate the existing files, and it is a fully supported change.
Where do new screenshots and downloads go — does this setting move them?
Downloads follow your browser's download setting, not this screen. The where-new-content dropdowns cover new documents, music, photos and videos, and maps — each category independently.
Do Steam games obey "New apps will save to"?
No. Steam manages its own libraries: Steam → Settings → Storage creates a library on another drive and moves installed games between libraries cleanly.
How do I undo the change later?
Set the dropdown back to This PC (C:). Future installs return to C:; anything installed on the other drive stays there until you Move it back app by app.
Is there a way to see which apps are eating the most space?
Settings → Apps → Installed apps → sort by size puts the offenders on top — usually games and video tools. Storage settings' category view tells the same story per drive.
Will a Windows update reset my save-location choices?
They normally survive updates. If an upgrade ever resets the dropdowns, the fix is the same four clicks — and apps already living on the other drive are not moved back by an update.
Where to go next
- Find which files are consuming your storage
The detective step before any moving day — know what's actually eating C:. - Stop the low disk space popup
For when the warning is more annoying than the problem. - Change the default app for photos
The other kind of "default" — which program opens your files. - Set your default browser properly
Links opening in the wrong browser is a defaults problem too.
Revision note. Originally published August 30, 2015, in the first weeks of Windows 10, when "save new apps to your SD card" was a headline feature for the era's 32 GB budget laptops. Rewritten August 20, 2026 for Windows 11 and Windows 10: the setting still lives where it did, but this version adds the Move button, the desktop-program truth the setting can't touch, Steam's own mover, and the repair-bench rules learned from a decade of full C: drives — including why cut-and-pasting Program Files is the one shortcut that always ends badly. If a red storage bar brought you here, breathe: this is one of the most fixable problems a laptop can have. Spotted an error or a gap? Tell me through the contact page and I will fix it. Enjoy the breathing room.