[HOW TO] Easily move your SteamApps folder to another drive

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GenPattonBR Mar 6, 2014 @ 7:07am

[HOW TO] Easily move your SteamApps folder to another drive

I know there are a few tutorials out there that will teach you how to move your SteamApps folder from one drive to another, but I've come up with a method that is easier and more "transparent" to Steam than the other methods out there.

The scenario

Windows 7 with an almost full C: drive. Steam is installed to "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam", and the games files are in "<Steam>\SteamApps" folder.
Fresh D: drive with lots of free space

Objectives:

To move the entire SteamApps folder to the D: drive with minimal effort and let the result be as transparent as possible to Steam.
No game uninstall/reinstalls required
the entire process should be easily reversible in case something goes wrong.

The Process:

Exit Steam
Create the Folder "D:\Program Files (x86)\Steam" (note it is in drive D:).
Move the folder "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps" to "D:\Program Files (x86)\Steam". you can do this using Windows Explorer's CUT-PASTE or drag-and-dropping the folder using the right mouse button, and then select "Move"
moving the folder might take from a few minutes to several hours, depending on the size of the "common" folder and the speed of the HDDs. In my case it took about 3.5 hours to move the entire folder.
Once the folder is moved, make sure there is no "SteamApps" folder under "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam", and make sure it is complete under "D:\Program Files (x86)\Steam"
Now the trick part:

- Open a Command Prompt window and type these commands:

C: <ENTER> cd "\Program Files (x86)\Steam" <ENTER> MKLINK /J SteamApps "D:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps" <ENTER>

You'll get a message saying that a junction point was created for SteamApps, pointing to D:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps

Start Steam and you're ready to go. All your games, their settings, etc, will be preserved, stored in the D: drive, but Steam will think it is in the C: drive. No changes to Steam's settings will be required.

Explanation

What we did here was to create what Linux/Unix users call a hard link, and Windows calls a Junction Point. It is like a folder, but that is located somewhere else. As far as Steam is concerned, the entire folder tree is still under the C: drive, but it is actually store in the D: drive. Any writes/reads done to either c:\...\SteamApps or d:\...\SteamApps will work but will effectively be done in the D: drive. No space is taken in the C: drive anymore. Even if new games are installed, their files will be in the D: drive.

Notes:

If you have a 32-bit version of Windows, replace "Program Files (x86)" with "Program Files" in the references above
If you are a Linux user, the same thing can be achieved using the command "ln -s"
The process above is completely reversible, and is easy to do: exit Steam, erase the junction point "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps" and move the SteamApps folder back from drive D: to drive C:. Restart Steam.
This works on Windows XP and forward. If you don't have the MKLINK utility, there is an equivalent here, called JUNCTION: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896768

I hope this tutorial helps you. If you liked it or have any doubts, let me know.

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Showing 1-12 of 12 comments

UberFiend Mar 6, 2014 @ 7:22am

Windows users call it a shortcut.

Or you could go into Steam Settings & change/add the Steam Library Folder

But, thanks for sharing deeply researched, highly technical, useless information.

Last edited by UberFiend; Mar 6, 2014 @ 9:47am

Satoru Mar 6, 2014 @ 7:28am

this functionality is mostly useless now that you can make new libraries anyway. You can just move games to the new appsfolder and it will find and link them in your library.

Last edited by Satoru; Mar 6, 2014 @ 7:28am

GenPattonBR Mar 6, 2014 @ 8:36am

Originally posted by UberFiend:
Windows users call it a shortcut.

this is not a shortcut.

A shortcut is a file. what I outlined is done in the file system's table, and is called a junction point. You cannot do what I mentioned with a shortcut.

If you're gonna call my information useless, at least get your knowledge correct.

Last edited by GenPattonBR; Mar 6, 2014 @ 8:54am

EkZ Mar 6, 2014 @ 8:53am

Good job

76561198094277153 Mar 6, 2014 @ 8:56am

Good job

UberFiend Mar 6, 2014 @ 9:14am

Originally posted by GenPattonBR:
Originally posted by UberFiend:
Windows users call it a shortcut.

this is not a shortcut.

A shortcut is a file. what I outlined is done in the file system's table, and is called a junction point. You cannot do what I mentioned with a shortcut.

If you're gonna call my information useless, at least get your knowledge correct.

all a form of redirection

Shierke Mar 6, 2014 @ 9:18am

Upload it s a guide, it'll sink to the bottom here.

GenPattonBR Mar 6, 2014 @ 9:22am

Originally posted by UberFiend:
Originally posted by GenPattonBR:

all a form of redirection

Nope.

Do you actually know the difference between a shortcut, a symbolic link (or "symlink") and a hard link (or junction point) ?

Symlinks and a junction points can be treated as directories, while shortcuts are files, no matter what the shortcuts point to.

If you try to do what I outlined with a shortcut, you'll fail miserably.