User Folders - Restore Default Location

How to Restore Default Location of User Folders in Windows 7 and Windows 8​

   Information

This will show you how to restore the default location of all or a single user folder of your choice in Windows 7 and Windows 8.

   Note

If you have duplicate user folders instead, then you will need to backup the contents of the duplicate user folders, do OPTION TWO below, delete the duplicate folders, then you may need to restart the computer a couple of times first before the default location is restored.

Windows 8.1 Update released on April 8th 2014 via Windows Update, renamed SkyDrive to OneDrive.

CONTENTS:

• Option One: To Restore Default Location of User Folders in Properties
• Option Two: To Restore Default Location of User Folders using a BAT file

EXAMPLE: User folders
NOTE: This is at the default C:\Users\(user-name) location.

OPTION ONE

To Restore Default Location of User Folders in Properties

NOTE: If using this option does not restore the user folder back to the default location, then use OPTION TWO below instead.
1. If you are in a homegroup, then you will need to change the homegroup settings to no longer share the user folder (ex: My Music) that you want to move first by unchecking the folder and clicking on Save Changes. (see screenshot below)
NOTE: This is so the user folder (ex: My Music) will not be shared on the homegroup anymore.

2. Press the Windows+R keys to open the Run dialog, type shell:UsersFilesFolder, and press enter.
NOTE: This will open your C:\Users\(user-name) folder.

3. Right click or press and hold on the user folder (ex: My Music) that you want to restore the default location for, and click/tap on Properties.

4. Click/tap on the Location tab, and Restore Default button. (See screenshot below)

5. Click/tap on OK. (See screenshot below)
NOTE: Notice that the location has changed to the default C:\Users\(user-name) location.

6. Click/tap on Yes. (See screenshot below)

   Note

If you have a folder in the default location named for the user folder already, then you will not see this dialog box.

Windows 8 will not have the "My" in front of the user folder name anymore.

User Folder | Folder Name Contacts |Contacts
Desktop |Desktop
My Documents |Documents
Downloads |Downloads
Favorites |Favorites
Links |Links
My Music |Music
My Pictures |Pictures
OneDrive (Windows 8.1 Update)|OneDrive
Saved Games |Saved Games
Searches |Searches
SkyDrive (Windows 8.1)|SkyDrive
My Videos |Videos

7. Click/tap on Yes. (See screenshot below)
WARNING: If you do not click/tap on Yes, then you will have two copies of this user folder at the C:\Users\(user-name) location. One will be a normal folder (same name) with the contents and the other as the now restored user folder. It is recommended that you click/tap on YES.

8. After a few seconds when the location has been restored, the Properties window (screenshot under step 5) will then close.

9. If you are in a homegroup, then you can now change the homegroup settings back to share the user folder (ex: My Music) again if you like by checking the folder and clicking on Save Changes. (see screenshot below)

OPTION TWO

To Restore Default Location of User Folders using a BAT file

   Note

This is an example of the contents of the .bat files below. The parts in red are what will vary per .bat file based on what user folder it is for.

@echo off 
 
taskkill /f /im explorer.exe
 
timeout /t 2 /nobreak >nul
 
if not exist "%UserProfile%\[B][COLOR=red]Pictures[/COLOR][/B]" mkdir "%UserProfile%\[COLOR=red][B]Pictures[/B][/COLOR]"
 
reg add "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders" /v "[COLOR=red][B]My Pictures[/B][/COLOR]" /t REG_SZ /d "C:\Users\%USERNAME%\[COLOR=red][B]Pictures[/B][/COLOR]" /f
 
reg add "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders" /v "[COLOR=red][B]My Pictures[/B][/COLOR]" /t REG_EXPAND_SZ /d %%USERPROFILE%%"\[COLOR=red][B]Pictures[/B][/COLOR]" /f
 
attrib +r -s -h "%USERPROFILE%\[COLOR=red][B]Pictures[/B][/COLOR]" /S /D
 
timeout /t 1 /nobreak >nul
 
start explorer.exe

1. Do step 2 to 13 below for what user folder you need to restore the default location of.


2. To Restore the Default Contacts Folder Location
A) Click/tap on the download button below to download the file below, and go to step 14 below.

Restore_Contacts_Default_Location.bat


Download


3. To Restore the Default Desktop Folder Location
A) Click/tap on the download button below to download the file below, and go to step 14 below.

Restore_Desktop_Default_Location.bat


Download


4. To Restore the Default My Documents Folder Location
A) Click/tap on the download button below to download the file below, and go to step 14 below.

Restore_Documents_Default_Location.bat


Download


5. To Restore the Default Downloads Folder Location
A) Click/tap on the download button below to download the file below, and go to step 14 below.

Restore_Downloads_Default_Location.bat


Download


6. To Restore the Default Favorites Folder Location
A) Click/tap on the download button below to download the file below, and go to step 14 below.

Restore_Favorites_Default_Location.bat


Download


7. To Restore the Default Links Folder Location
A) Click/tap on the download button below to download the file below, and go to step 14 below.

Restore_Links_Default_Location.bat


Download


8. To Restore the Default My Music Folder Location
A) Click/tap on the download button below to download the file below, and go to step 14 below.

Restore_Music_Default_Location.bat


Download


9. To Restore Default OneDrive Folder Location in Windows 8.1 Update
A) Click/tap on the download button below to download the file below, and go to step 14 below.

Restore_OneDrive_Default_Location.bat


Download


10. To Restore the Default My Pictures Folder Location
A) Click/tap on the download button below to download the file below, and go to step 14 below.

Restore_Pictures_Default_Location.bat


Download


11. To Restore the Default Saved Games Folder Location
A) Click/tap on the download button below to download the file below, and go to step 14 below.

Restore_Saved_Games_Default_Location.bat


Download


12. To Restore the Default Searches Folder Location
A) Click/tap on the download button below to download the file below, and go to step 14 below.

Restore_Searches_Default_Location.bat


Download


13. To Restore the Default My Videos Folder Location
A) Click/tap on the download button below to download the file below, and go to step 14 below.

Restore_Videos_Default_Location.bat


Download


14. Save the .bat file to your Desktop.

15. Unblock the downloaded .bat file(s).

16. Double click/tap on the downloaded .bat file to run it.

17. The .bat file will now kill explorer causing your screen to go blank, then open a command prompt to quickly restore the default location of the folder in the registry, restore the default attributes of the folder, restart explorer, and close the command prompt.

18. Repeat step 1 above for any other user folder you need to restore the default location of.

19. When finished, check the user folder(s) to verify that they have been restored to their default location.

20. If the user folder(s) still have not been restored to their default locations, then restart the computer and check again.

21. When restored, copy your files from the old folder location back into your now restored default folder location in "C:\Users\(user-name)".



That's it,
Shawn

Related Tutorials

---

• How to Change the Default Location of User Folders in Windows 7 and Windows 8
• How to Customize Default User Profile in Audit Mode
• How to Change the Default "Screenshots" Folder Location in Windows 8
• How to Change the Windows 7 Default User Folder Icons
• How to Pin Your User Files Folder to the Windows 7 Taskbar
• How to Create Your Own Special User Folder
• How to Restore Windows 7 Default User Folder Icons
• How to Add or Remove your User Folder from the Windows 7 Navigation Pane
• How to Restore the Windows 7 Public Folders
• How to Allow or Prevent Users to Move their User Folders to a New Location
• How to Change the Default Location of a User Profile in Windows 7 and Vista
• How to Create User Accounts on another Partition or Disk During Windows 7 Installation
• How to Change the Name of "My Documents" without Renaming the Folder
• How to Change the User Folder Name of a User Profile in Windows 7
• How to Restore Default Junction Points in Windows

 

[Brink]

Ian,

Yes, you would want to do step 16 to set the hidden files/folders to not be displayed anymore. At least the Pictures folder is now no longer set to be hidden (grayed out).

What happens if you try and rename the Pictures folder to My Pictures?

 

[woodbine]

Brink

OK. Just done step 16.

As for your question 'What happens if you try and rename the Pictures folder to My Pictures?'

You can see what has happened in the screen shot below!!! :shock:

Can I just say how much I appreciate your help, and sticking with this. I'm really glad I found this forum, and your expert advice has solved a small problem that may well have remained unresolved. It is no exaggeration to say that today, you are the 'Star' in the Lone Star State.

Best regards
Ian

P.S. What part of Texas are you from? Spent lots of time there, as well as Tennessee. 2 best US states.

 

[Brink]

I must admit that I'm not sure why it's not being restored for you.

As a last shot before doing something more drastic, delete the now renamed My Pictures folder, then try doing OPTION TWO in the tutorial on the first page of thread again step by step to see if maybe a mistake may have been made before.

 

[woodbine]

I think you need to read my post again, and view the screen shot.

It's back!

Or have I missed something.

Ian

 

[Brink]

LOL, my bad. I misread or missed that somehow.

I'm in the north central Texas area near the Texas/Oklahoma border.

 

[woodbine]

No Problem. it's easily done. Main thing is it came out right in the end.

Not sure if you're in the Pan-Handle, or area north of Dallas/FW? Spent plenty of time in Houston, where they really know how to have a good night out! Apart from that, been to San Antonio, Fort Stockton, Galveston, Sweetwater, Abilene, Austin as well as Dallas/FW. Spent many hours on the I10 and I20. Apart Texas, there is nowhere in the States I'd rather be than Tennessee, preferably paddling a canoe down the Ocoee river. Anyway, I digress.

Many thanks. Will be back soon for something else.

Ian

 

[Brink]

You're most welcome Ian. Take care.

 

[tekk]

question

I followed the steps on this tutorial to change my profile to my D drive, and it worked great until my C drive failed and I had to get the computer taken in for repairs. Now I have a working C drive again, but windows was reinstalled. I now have the default user(user) folder on my C drive and my old user(tekk) folder on my D drive. Is there any way to make my old user(tekk) folder on my d drive the main user folder again, still keeping it on the D drive? and possible remove the new default user(user) folder?

I have read the steps of all the tutoirals but i'm not sure if they apply to my specific scenario, as i'm a pretty basic computer user. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[xxxdannyxxx]

You can just redirect your new user folders to point to your folders on your D drive as you did before - http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/18629-user-folders-change-default-location.html or the whole profile - http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/87555-user-profile-change-default-location.html

I'm guessing you used one of these last time

Danny

 

[Keyoung59]

I'm looking at to Fix a missing User Folder. My Music was deleted and I want to get it back so I can change the location

Nevermind I got it... Thanks

 

[lambda1654]

Many thanks!

 

[Brink]

You're most welcome Lambda, and welcome to Seven Forums.

 

[Propama]

I just picked up Windows 7, and I initially tried to move “downloads” and “my documents” to another partition. Well, needless to say, I didn’t really pay attention or understand what was going on, and now in my user folder (by user folder I don’t mean C:/Users/Bryan but the Bryan folder you can access via the start menu) I have 2 download folders and 0 my documents folders. If I check C:/Users/Bryan there’s only one download folder.
Now, if I try to delete one of the download folders from Bryan they both go away, in addition to the copy that is on my other partition (G:/Downloads).
I assume I need to do option two, but before I start, let me clarify a few things. Should I delete all the download folders before I start option two or leave them, do option two, and then delete them afterward? Please clarify!

I know this isn’t a huge deal but I like things a certain way and Windows 7 is turning out to be a very strange/buggy OS. I understand the library thing, but why is C:/Users/Bryan different from the Bryan folder? Very strange indeed!
Thanks in advance!

 

[Brink]

Hello Propama, and welcome to Seven Forums.

I would first backup anything that you do not want to lose in those folders, delete them, and then see if using OPTION TWO on the affected user folders may be able to help.

 

[Roger 122]

Hi,
Perhaps in the wrong Forum, but anyway will option 2 work with Windows 8? I've put My Documents into drive F: and now the Properties/ Location Tab has gone, so cannot move back to C:\Users............

Thanks
Roger

 

[Brink]

Hello Roger, and welcome to Seven Forums.

Yes, this tutorial will work in Windows 8 as well.


If you are just wanting to save HDD space, then you might consider this below to be able to access the files from your libraries with the files actually located where you like instead. This way you will not have to worry about any potential issues that come with moving user folder locations.

• Create a new folder at any location you want.
• Move any files you want into the new folder.
• Include the new folder into a library of your choice.
• If you like, you can also set the new folder to be the default "save" to location for the library as well.

Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[Roger 122]

Thanks for the informative answer Shawn.

I will use option 2 to get things straight. The alternative you suggest looks good, will certainly give that a go.

Thanks for your help
Roger

 

[Brink]

You're most welcome Roger. I hope it goes smoothly for you.

 

[Arron 88]

Hi,

Hope you can help me. In trying to restore My Documents folder I messed up and somehow created a linked folder that I can not access, see the screenshot below. Can you offer some suggestions to correct?

Thanks,
Arron

 

[Brink]

Hello Arron, and welcome to Seven Forums.

What process did you use to try and restore it with? It looks like you may have used a mklink command??

Does it grant you access after you click on Continue?