Data Recovery

A – Z Guide to Move Program Files to Another Drive Windows 11, 10

If you are looking for solutions on how to move program files to another drive Windows 11, 10 8 or 7, you have come to the right place. You may find cases where you need an alternative to transfer your program files in order to retain some space.

There are also situations where need you to move the program files to another drive in case there are a lot of apps and programs installed on your Windows OS. In this article, we will be explaining the best approaches to move program files folder to another drive Windows 10. But before that, let’s understand the two case scenarios that are responsible for relocating program files to another drive. Also, you will be given an instant solution to do the same but with better speed, and fewer efforts. Keep reading to get to this amazing approach.

Cases Leading to Asking How to Move Program Files to Another Drive Windows

There are two cases where you may need to transfer program files to another drive:

Situation 1: Move Program Files to Different Physical Disk

Some of the users may have one or more physical Hard Drive as a spare in case they need to use it. Windows is installed on smaller SSD by the users.

Users may need to retain enough space on SSD to move program files to another physical disk for a better experience. This is one situation causing users to move programs to another drive on Windows 10.

Situation 2: Transfer Files to Drive on the Same Disk

Users may also want to relocate program files to another drive, as there could be a large number of apps, software, and games installed on their computer. Since these are installed in the program files by default, you can prevent low disk space warnings by shifting program files to another drive. 

Now, before moving forward to the solutions for moving program files to another drive, you may want to have a look at this instant solution.

Let’s jump to the manual solutions now.

Manually Move Program Files to Another Drive Windows 10

We have here two workarounds for moving program files to another drive. These are:

Method 1: Generating Directory to Transfer Program Files to Different Drive

Follow the steps are mentioned below to relocate program files to another drive:

1. First of all, you have to launch the “File Explorer” and navigate to the root on the drive that is the destination.
2. Now, “Right-click” there and choose “New”. Click on the “Folder” option and enter a name for the folder where you will be saving the program files.
3. Here, launch the new “File Explorer” and navigate to the drive from which you are moving the program files.
4. After that, choose the folder that has the program files and hit “Ctrl+C” and copy the folder.
5. Paste that folder in the other “File Explorer” in the destination drive by pressing “Ctrl+V” and resolve how to transfer program files to another drive Windows in Windows 10/8/7.
6. Now, go to the “File Explorer” in the source drive that has the program files that you just moved, hit “Delete,” and click “Yes” to move forward.
7. Choose the “File” option and click on “Open Command Prompt as Admin.”. Confirm the user access control prompt.
8. In here, you have to input “mklink/j. This is to be entered in the full drive letter and path of the old and new locations of the program files. Click “Enter” once done.
9. At last, make sure the program is executing properly by running it.

Now, check out the second solution.

Method 2: Move Program Files to Another Drive with the “Move” Feature

Follow the steps as discussed below to move programs to another drive in Windows 10:

1. To start the process, first click on “Windows” icon on the bottom-left corner of the screen.

2. From there, you have to find and click the “Settings” option.

3. hit the “Apps & Features” button.

3. Here, you will see a list of all the installed apps.

3. Now, select the app that you want to move.
4. Here, you will find various buttons that will appear under the name.

Warning: The “Move” option will not be available on all the apps.

3. After that, hit “Move”. If the button is not visible, this method cannot be used for the specified program.
4. Now, choose a location to save the new drive and open it.
   Choose a folder and then hit “Move”.

This is how you can resolve how to move programs to another drive Windows 10/8/7.

In a Nutshell

Here, the scenarios leading to move program files to another drive are discussed to give users a clear picture for the transfer. Understand the manual methods well and apply them carefully. If there are any errors while using these solutions, you can always opt for the instant solution.