How to Easily Move Steam Games to a Different Drive (2024)

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Learn how to move your Steam games between hard drives on PC

Co-authored byGonzalo Martinezand Hannah Dillon

Last Updated: June 13, 2023Fact Checked

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Individual Game Files

Entire Steam Installation

Running out of hard drive space because of how many games you have installed? If you play games on Steam, you've probably encountered this problem a number of times. Video game file sizes seem to keep getting bigger, and it can be annoying to uninstall and reinstall your games over and over. Thankfully Steam has made it easy to move your game files from one Windows hard drive to another, and we'll teach you all of the methods in this article.

Things You Should Know

You can move individual games or your entire Steam library to a new drive, depending on your needs.
If the game you are moving has a large file size, it may take some time for it to fully transfer over to the new drive.
Make sure to back up your games just in case something goes wrong in the transfer process.

Method 1

Method 1 of 2:

Move Individual Game Files to a New Drive

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1
Open the Storage Manager. In Steam, click the Steam menu in the top left corner and click Settings. Select Downloads midway down the left-hand sidebar of the Settings window, and then select the Steam Library Folders button to open the Storage Manager.
2
Create a new Steam library folder. At the top of the Storage Manager, you should see your current Steam library folder (most likely on your C drive).
- Click the little plus sign button next to your current Steam library folder.
- In the pop-up window, click the dropdown menu at the top and select the drive you'd like to add a new Steam library folder in.
- Once selected, hit the Select. The new drive should then appear in the Storage Manager.
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See Also
Know full guide to move a Steam game to another drive How to Play Steam Games on an External Drive Using the Steam Storage Manager Steam Support :: Steam Remote Play How can I tranfer my save from a steam account to another steam account?
3
Move your games. There are two ways to move your games between hard drives once you've set up a new Steam library folder: Via the Storage Manager or the Game Library. You should already be in the Storage Manager if you finished the previous step, and the Game Library can be found by clicking Library at the top of the main Steam window.
- Storage Manager:
  - Scroll through your games in the Storage Manager.
  - Click the correlating checkbox on the right side of the game you want to remove.
  - Click the Move button.
  - Select the hard drive you want to move the games to and then click Move.
- Games Library:
  - In your Steam games list, right-click the game you want to move and select Properties…
  - In the pop up window, select Local Files in the sidebar menu, and then click Move install folder….
  - In the new window select the drive you want to move the game to from the dropdown menu and click Move.
  - Once the game is done moving, you can repeat this process for all games you want to move.^[1]
4
Wait for the games to finish transferring. If your game's file size is large, it may take some time for the game to move between drives.

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Method 2

Method 2 of 2:

Move Entire Steam Installation to a New Drive

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1
Back up the “steamapps” folder. While it isn't required to back up your steamapps folder, it is recommended. If something goes wrong with the process of moving your Steam installation and you don't have a backup, you will have to install all your Steam games again.
2
Navigate to your Steam installation folder. First, make sure Steam is not running. Then navigate to your Steam installation folder, which is by default C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam.
3
Delete some files. Delete all of the files and folders inside this folder except for the steamapps and userdata folders and the steam.exe file.
4
Move the Steam folder to the new drive location. Cut the entire Steam folder by right clicking the folder and selecting Cut. Navigate to the location you would like to move your Steam installation, such as your new hard drive, and paste the Steam folder by right-clicking anywhere inside the File Explorer pane and selecting Paste.
5
Log in to Steam and verify game files. Once the Steam folder has finished moving to the new drive, try logging in to Steam. After logging in, the client will briefly update and complete the login process.
- For each installed game, verify the integrity of the game files to ensure the games transferred properly and fixed damaged files. To verify the integrity, right-click on the game in the games list and select Local Files from the left-hand sidebar menu. Then select Verify integrity of game files… and allow the process to complete before trying to play the game.^[2]
6
Troubleshoot, if necessary. If you are getting errors after moving your Steam installation, you may need to do a more thorough process.
- Exit Steam completely and navigate to your new Steam installation folder. Move the steamapps folder to your Desktop.
- Uninstall Steam and then reinstall it to the new desired hard drive. Move the steamapps folder from your Desktop to the new Steam installation folder.^[3]
- After this process is completed, try to log in and verify your game files once more.
7
See Also
Can You Transfer Steam Games to Another Account
Retrieve your save files. If you have saved games that aren't on the Steam cloud and want to transfer those over as well, go to Documents\My Games. The save files should be in this folder and you can move it to the hard drive Steam is now on to continue using those saves.

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About This Article

Co-authored by:

Gonzalo Martinez

Phone Repair Specialist & President, CleverTech

This article was co-authored by Gonzalo Martinez and by wikiHow staff writer, Hannah Dillon. Gonzalo Martinez is the President of CleverTech, a tech repair business in San Jose, California founded in 2014. CleverTech LLC specializes in repairing Apple products. CleverTech pursues environmental responsibility by recycling aluminum, display assemblies, and the micro components on motherboards to reuse for future repairs. On average, they save 2 lbs - 3 lbs more electronic waste daily than the average computer repair store. This article has been viewed 38,248 times.

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Co-authors: 2

Updated: June 13, 2023

Categories: Steam Games

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FAQs

How to Easily Move Steam Games to a Different Drive? ›

Navigate to your Steam client 'Settings' menu. Open the 'Storage' tab. Select the drive where the games you wish to move are located. Select the games you wish to move, and click 'Move'

Read On ›

How do I mass move Steam games to another drive? ›

Key Takeaways. Open the Storage Manager window in Steam and create a new Steam Library Folder on another drive. Then, select your game and click “Move” to move it to the new drive. Steam offers multiple library folders, and you can choose where you want to install games when you download them.

Discover More Details ›

How do I point a Steam game to another drive? ›

Steam: Add a New Library Folder

There's a good chance most of your digital collection resides in Steam, which thankfully makes it easy to move your games. To do this, head to Steam > Settings > Storage to open the Storage Manager. Click the + icon next to your current drive and choose your secondary install location.

How do I move Steam from C drive to D drive? ›

Open your Computer drive where the Steam folder is located. Select C: > Program Files(x86) > Steam. Right-click your Steam folder, copy it, and paste it to another drive. You can either delete the previous folder or rename it for future use.

See Details ›

How do I move Steam saves to another drive? ›

In your Steam games list, right-click the game you want to move and select Properties… In the pop up window, select Local Files in the sidebar menu, and then click Move install folder…. In the new window select the drive you want to move the game to from the dropdown menu and click Move.

Find Out More ›

How do I move my entire Steam library? ›

The following instructions are a simple way to move your Steam installation along with your games:

Exit the Steam client application.
Navigate to the Steam installation folder. ...
Delete all of the files and folders except the. ...
Cut and paste the whole Steam folder to the new location, for example:

More items...

Tell Me More ›

Can I move Steam games from one drive to another? ›

Option 1: Using the Storage Manager Window

Check the box next to the game, then click the "Move" button in the bottom right corner. A prompt will appear asking you to select the drive with your new Steam folder. Choose it and click "Move." This process may take some time, especially if you're moving a large game.

Show Me More ›

How do I transfer a game to another drive? ›

Method 1. Manually Move PC Games to Another Drive - Microsoft Solution

Go to Settings, click "Apps", and select "Apps & features".
Find the games that you downloaded from the Microsoft App store, click it, and select "Move".
Click the drop list to select a new drive (such as D), and click "Move".

Jun 13, 2024

Explore More ›

How to move Steam game to another PC? ›

1. login with your Steam account on your old PC > Click on Steam and select "Backup and Restore Games..." > Check "Backup currently installed programs" and click "NEXT>." 2. Select a game or multiple games you want to bring to the new PC and click "NEXT>" again.

How do I move Steam games from one drive to another Reddit? ›

The most painless way would be the following:

In Steam, go to Steam>Settings>Downloads>Steam Library Folders. ...
Shut down Steam.
Navigate to your Steam installation folder. ...
Right-click-drag "steamapps" from the Steam folder into the new library, choose "Move to..." when you drop it, and accept all overwrites.

Apr 11, 2019

Show Me More ›

Will my games be deleted if I uninstall Steam? ›

How should I uninstall Steam? Important: This process will remove Steam and any installed game content from your machine.

Read The Full Story ›

How do I move a Steam game to another monitor? ›

To move a full-screen game to another monitor, use the keyboard shortcut: Shift + Windows key + Left/Right arrow key. Alternatively, open Display Settings to set a new main display. On Mac, open Mission Control. Drag and drop the game into the new monitor's Space.

See Details ›

How do I change my Steam location? ›

When talking about changing your Steam country, you'll need to use a VPN (Virtual Private Network). That's because a VPN lets you change your IP to another country, which also changes your online location. As a result, the platforms and sites you use will see this country as your real place of residence.

Get More Info Here ›

Does Steam have a cloud? ›

Games can utilize Steam Cloud for storage of many different types of data, including game settings, save games, profile stats and other user-specific bits. Many Steam client settings are also saved via the cloud, including collections, friend nicknames and anything changed via the Steam client Settings menu.

How do I transfer a game from one laptop to another? ›

Manual transfer with an external hard drive

Connect your device to one PC. Find the device in your file explorer, then drag the files you want to transfer onto the folder in the hard drive. Safely eject the hard drive, then connect it to the new PC.

How do I transfer Steam games to a new computer? ›

View Details ›

How to create a new Steam Library folder on another drive? ›

On the Settings window for Steam, select the Downloads section and then select the Steam Library Folders. The Steam Library Folder window will show the current Steam library folder(s). Choose Add Library Folder. You can now select a new location for a Steam library.

How do I import an existing Steam Library? ›

Dive into Downloads: Within Settings, locate and select 'Downloads' to find the Steam Library Folders option. Enlist Your Game Library: Here, you'll see an option to add a new library folder. Click on 'Add Library Folder' and navigate to the sanctuary of your Steam games, possibly carried over from your previous OS.

Learn More ›

How to Easily Move Steam Games to a Different Drive (2024)

Things You Should Know

Move Individual Game Files to a New Drive

Move Entire Steam Installation to a New Drive

Expert Q&A

Tips

You Might Also Like

References

About This Article

Did this article help you?

FAQs

How to Easily Move Steam Games to a Different Drive? ›

Will my games be deleted if I uninstall Steam? ›