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Junction Links, Windows 10

Hello, I am quite new to Windows and PC.

I have recently bought a stationary windows computer with two seperate drives and I have some questions.

First of all it seems like all my downloads is automaticly saved on my C drive. However i do not want this to be the case. I have read some on the internet and stumbeled across something called Junction Links. A hard link between local directories.

An example:

I made a folder on my D drive with the name "Photos". Since I want my photos to be saved in this folder and not in the "Photos" folder on my C drive, I created a junction link like this in command prompt:

C:\windows\system32>mklink /J C:\Photos D:\Photos

If I have understood this correctly, whenever I save a photo in my Photos folder on my C drive, it will actually be saved in my Photos folder on my D drive. Correct? 

I know that this is kind of an useless example as photos can be moved between drives without problems as long as they are not linked to anything. But, say I want to download a program or such. If anyone has a better way to move programs from C drive to D drive I am waiting for your response!

Thank you!

Hi Martin,

Junctions or Symbolic Link are basically advanced shortcuts wherein you create a Symbolic Link from the original location of the file/folder referencing to your desired location. For example, you have a program that requires its files to run in C:\Programs but you want this directory saved in D:\Programs. You can move the directory to your desired location then create a Symbolic Link in C:\Program pointing to D:\Program. The program will still try to access its files from C:\Program but will be redirected to D:\Program and everything will just work as if it were in C:\Program.

What you actually want, however, cannot be achieved by using Junctions. If you are looking for a way to change the default locations where your downloads, music, photos, videos go in to, please follow these steps:

  1. Open your File Explorer.

  2. The folders under Quick access on the left pane, namely Desktop, Downloads, Documents, Pictures, Music, and Videos are situated in C:\Users\<username> by default. Right-click on one of the folders (we'll go for Download this time) and select Properties.



  3. Go to Location tab, enter your desired location or select Find Target, and click OK.



  4. Repeat the process on the remaining folders if desired.

Let us know how it goes.

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Last updated May 14, 2024 Views 5,402 Applies to: