Windows default download path is a location where Windows stores downloaded files. If you want to change the default download path, you can do so by editing the registry. To do this, you need to be logged in as a user with administrator privileges. In the registry editor, locate the following key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon and then edit it to read as follows: [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion] [value]=“C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits" [type]=“REG_SZ” If you want to change the default download path for all users on your computer, you can use the Registry Editor and create a new key and value in that key’s location and then set the value to “C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits" and type REG_SZ into the text box.
The default download location on our Windows systems works well enough most of the time without a problem, but what if you want or need to change the location at the system level?
Normally your Downloads folder is on the C: drive, within your user folder. If you have a massive boot drive or regularly clean up old, unused downloads, it is probably perfectly fine there. If you hang on to everything you download, or just hate that file path, you might want to move your downloads folder to a different location.
First, create the folder that will become the new Downloads folder. Open up File Explorer and navigate to the location where you’d like it to be. Then, right-click empty space, mouse over “New,” and select “Folder.” You can name the folder anything you’d like, but you will probably want to name it something logical, like “Downloads.”
Then, take a look at the left-hand side of File Explorer and locate the “Downloads” folder. Right-click it and hit “Properties.”
Select the “Location” tab, and then click “Move.”
Navigate to the folder you want, click it, and then hit “Select Folder.”
The selection window will close, and you’ll be back at the Downloads Properties window. Click “Apply.”
If you have files in your current Downloads folder, you’ll get a prompt asking if you’d like to move all of the files from the old location to the new one. Whether or not you do this is purely up to you and what you want. If you aren’t sure, “Yes” is probably your best bet.
Download folders can be tens or even hundreds of gigabytes in size, so you should expect the transfer to take a while. Just be patient. When it is done, click “OK,” and then click the “X” in the top right of the Downloads Properties window.
That’s it — you’re done. If you find yourself constantly running out of space because of a ballooning downloads folder, you might consider moving old downloads to an external hard drive. Alternatively, you can install a new internal hard drive to store all of your files.
