How to Move Programs to Another Drive Like C to D? See the Guide!

Windows 10 Move Program Files to Another Drive

On a hard drive of the computer, there is only so much room. If you fill it up, the device may get slower or have problems with programs. It is helpful if you choose to move installed programs from one drive to another. By default, you install some apps or programs on the system drive C.

Relatively speaking, it is simple to move music files, pictures and other files to another drive from one drive. However, it is difficult to move program files to another drive like D since a program creates a folder to Windows Registry and registers itself during the process of installation. The program may stop running if you simply move an installed program’s files to another drive.

So, how can you move programs from C to D? Three methods are described here!

How to Move Programs to Another Drive like C to D

Use Settings to Move Programs

One of the ways to move apps or programs to another drive is to use the Apps settings in Windows 10. As you know, a lot of programs are installed on your computer. Some of them come with your system and the others are installed by yourself. This method only works for the second case.

The following is the complete guide on how to move program files from C drive to D drive in Windows 10.

Step 1: Click the Start button and go to Settings.

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Step 2: Navigate to Apps to enter the Apps & features window.

Step 3: Scroll down, select an app that you need to move and click the Move button

Step 4: Opt a destination drive like D and perform the operation by clicking Move.

Create Directory Junction to Move Program Files to Another Drive

You can follow these instructions below to easily relocate program files to another drive in Windows 10. Let’s see them:

Step 1: Open File Explorer, go to the root on the destination drive like D and right-click the blank area to choose New > Folder.

Step 2: Browse to the source drive folder that holds the program files in another File Explorer window. Choose the folder that contains the program files you want to move and copy the folder using Ctrl + C. Then, use Ctrl + V to paste that folder to the new drive.

Step 3: Delete the folder containing the program files you moved.

Step 4: Go to File > Open command prompt > Open command prompt as administrator and confirm the operation.

Step 5: Use the mklink /j “link location” “files location” command. For instance, if you want to move Microsoft Office from C to D, the command is mklink /j “C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office” “D:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office”.

After that, run the program to see if it runs properly. This way, Windows just thinks the program is in the original location but actually, it is in the new location.

Use a Third-Party Tool to Move Programs to Another Drive

If you think the second way is troublesome and the first method won’t help, you can try a simple way and that is to use a third-party tool like SteamMover or Application Mover to move installed program files to another drive.

Just get one of them from the Internet and follow the offered instructions online to do the moving operation.

Alternative: Uninstall and Reinstall the Program

You can choose an indirect way to move programs from one drive to another. That is to uninstall the program that you want to move via Control Panel.

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Then, set up your computer so that it can download apps to the drive that you want to use.

Step 1: Press Win + I keys at the same time to open Windows Settings.

Step 2: Navigate to System > Storage.

Step 3: Locate to Change where new content is saved.

Step 4: In the pop-up window, choose D from New apps will save to and click Apply.

The End

How to move programs to another drive in Windows 10? Now, you know three methods after reading this post. Just try one of them if you have a need.