How to Move PC Games to a Different Hard Drive
SSDs have gotten bigger, merely so have games—Call of Duty: Mod Warfare now clocks in at over 200GB, which doesn't exit room for much else on a modestly sized disk. If you're willing to requite up some of those super-fast loading times, you tin can move some of your games to a secondary hard bulldoze with more space without re-downloading them.
Some game clients, like Steam and EA's Origin, accept built-in features that allow you to motion your games from 1 location to another. Others, like the Epic Games Store, require a picayune finesse to move a game'southward files. Hither's how to do it on the most popular launchers.
Steam: Add a New Library Binder
At that place'south a good chance most of your digital drove resides in Steam, which thankfully makes information technology easy to move your games. From the main window, head to in the upper-left corner and become to the Downloads tab in the sidebar. Click the button forth the top labeled Steam Library Folders, then click Add Library Folder—you can cull any other binder on your organization to use as a secondary install location.
From now on, when you go to install a new game, y'all'll be given a selection between your pre-selected library folders. I put the games I'm currently playing on my SSD, with the games I occasionally re-visit on my slower, spinning hd.
To move a game you lot currently have installed, correct-click its name in Steam's library sidebar, then head to the Local Files tab. Click the Move Install Binder button, and Steam volition requite y'all a drib-downward with all your pre-chosen library folders. Select the one you want to move the game to, then click the Move Folder button.
This may take a chip of time if the game'due south files take up a lot of space, merely when it'south done, Steam will launch the game usually without a hiccup. Notation that y'all may demand to do a flake of extra work if you lot have custom mods installed, but for most titles, information technology's that easy. Cheque out our list of the best Steam tips for more.
GOG Galaxy: Move the Folder and Reinstall
GOG Galaxy aims to be a one-cease shop for all your game libraries, but it also allows yous to download and install games from GOG.com. It doesn't offering a built-in button to motility those games to a new folder, but it does allow y'all to install games wherever you want—when yous install a new game, you can cull to install it in a folder other than the default. And we can dispense this feature to move games to a new location.
To motion a game, navigate to GOG Galaxy'southward installation folder—the default is —then correct-click on the folder containing the game in question. Cut and paste that folder to your new location—say, —and wait for the files to re-create over.
When that'due south done, open GOG Galaxy, correct-click on the game, and cull . You'll get an error telling you information technology couldn't uninstall the game, but that's okay. Click on the game again to install it, and when it asks yous where you want information technology installed, choose the binder where you lot copied the game files (in our example, ). It volition begin installing the game, realize the files are already at that place, and the installation will consummate very quickly, without re-downloading the files a 2nd fourth dimension.
EA Origin: Move the Game From the Origin Client
Origin has a built-in "Motion" button that makes this process expressionless unproblematic—fifty-fifty simpler than Steam, since you don't have to create a new "library binder" first. When yous install a new game, you tin can install it in whatsoever binder you want, on any drive.
To movement an Origin game to a new folder, merely right-click the game in Origin's Library view, cull Move Game, and scan to your new drive. You lot'll come across the progress in a File Explorer pop-up, and when it's done yous'll be able to play the game similar nothing was unlike. (Well, except for the loading times.)
Blizzard Battle.cyberspace: Motility the Files, And so Redirect the Launcher
For games using Blizzard's Boxing.internet launcher, similar Overwatch, yous'll need to move the files yourself, then direct Battle.net to the new location. So head to your Battle.net games directory and select the folder for the game yous want to move.
Cut and paste this binder to your desired location on the new drive, so open Battle.net and click the Blizzard card in the upper-left corner to enter the Settings. Under the Game Install/Update tab, find the game in question and click the Use a Different Folder button.
Navigate to where you moved the files on your new drive, and yous should be good to go. Battle.net will verify the integrity of the files, and you'll be able to play the game from its new location without re-downloading information technology.
Epic Games: Fox the Store Into Resuming a Finished Download
The Epic Games launcher is one of the more annoying stores with which to move games. Starting time, find the folder where your game of option is currently installed (like ) and movement that folder to the new location (like ). Then change the name of the folder—something like "Fortnite1" would exist fine in this example.
Open the Ballsy Games store, click the three dots nether the game in question, and choose Uninstall. The game should "uninstall" immediately, since the files are no longer at that place. Click the game to offset the installation procedure over again—merely this time, choose your desired location on the new drive (similar without the "ane" you added). Ballsy won't install a game to an existing binder, which is why we accept to go through this renaming song and dance.
Once the installation starts, click the Downloads tab in the Epic launcher'south sidebar, and click the 10 to cancel the installation. At present get back to the folder where the game's files reside on your new drive and delete the new folder—in this instance, "Fortnite"—and rename the "Fortnite1" folder to "Fortnite."
Go back to the Epic launcher and click on the game in question to resume the download. Information technology should come across your files on the drive, verify that they're all there, and stop installing the game without downloading anything.
Microsoft Store: Move Games From Windows' Settings
For all the detest Microsoft's Universal Windows Platform (UWP) games have gotten in the past, they're very piece of cake to move to a new drive or folder. To do so, head to Windows 10's , and so find the game in the add together/remove programs list. Next to the Uninstall push button, yous'll see a Move button that allows you lot to move it to whatever drive—non any folder, mind you, merely at least yous can get it off your SSD and onto another drive where space isn't quite so precious.
Ubisoft Uplay: Movement the Files, And then Redirect the Launcher
Ubisoft'due south Uplay is similar to Battle.cyberspace: to motility a game, you lot accept to move the actual files using File Explorer. And so observe the game directory in question (past default, information technology'll be nether ) and copy it to your new bulldoze. Delete the binder from its old location.
Open up Uplay, so correct-click the game in question and choose Uninstall. Once Uplay marks the game as uninstalled, correct-click the game and choose View Game Details. You lot should meet a new push button appear under Download titled Locate Installed Game. Click that, direct the launcher to your game's new location, and information technology should discover all the game's files, allowing you to play without re-downloading.
No Other Options Exist? Create a Symbolic Link
Most launchers should allow a process similar to the above if you desire to move your games. If it doesn't, in that location's one last-ditch option you lot can try: symbolic links. Symbolic links are kind of like shortcuts, except your computer volition treat the shortcut equally if it's the bodily folder it's pointing to, then the game files won't know the deviation.
I've yet to encounter a modern game that requires this, but it'southward how we used to practice things before Steam added the power to have multiple library folders. It may come in handy in certain situations.
Allow's say we're moving a game from to . Simply move the MyAwesomeGame binder, and then right-click the Start menu and cull Control Prompt (Admin). Run the following command:
mklink /D "C:\Program Files\MyAwesomeGame" "D:\Games\MyAwesomeGame"
You'll see a shortcut-looking icon appear in the original folder, pointing to the new location. The game won't even be able to tell the difference, meaning it should hopefully launch without trouble—and you tin can reclaim that much-needed space on your SSD.
Source: https://sea.pcmag.com/gaming/39283/how-to-move-pc-games-to-a-different-hard-drive
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