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

 

[knight202]

Hey Windows 7 Forum!

I read over this tutorial as im having a big issue. I went to move the my documents folder to my a drive. Anyways, if you look at "option 1" in the original post, then scroll to #7. Instead of clicking 'yes' to move all folders and files i accidently clicked no as i needed to backout and change something before moving. my files that i create now save to my a drive as they should because that is where i pointed my documents to be, but now i have the my documents folder still stick on my c drive. is there any way i can get the my documents folder from my c drive moved physically over to my a drive as that was my original intent before i messed up

Cheers
Chris,

 

[Brink]

Hello Chris, and welcome to Seven Forums.

If the Documents folder at the new location has a "Location" tab in it's properties page, then you could just copy the contents from the original old Documents folder into the new moved Documents folder.

Afterwards, you could delete or hide the old Documents folder.

Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[knight202]

Ahh there is nothing in my new location, due to the fact that when i went to change the location i set it to A:/ and had no folder to put it in, but at the time i didnt realize that it would carry all my folders over, so i went to cancel out but hit no, which was the no to move folders to the new location..

 

[Brink]

No worries. Start over with OPTION TWO to restore your Documents folder. Afterwards, you could move it to where you like again if wanted. Just be sure to back up the contents to another location to be safe.

 

[knight202]

That worked, i did option two and then pointed my documents back to a:\ using the location tab, i was hoping it would bring the 'my documents' folder over but it just brought all the contents of my document folder over to a:\ but looks like it will work out ok

 

[Brink]

Good to hear Chris.

 

[Kaktussoft]

Saved Games attrib +r -s -h "%USERPROFILE%\Saved Games" /S /D
Screenshots (Windows 8) "%USERPROFILE%\Pictures\Screenshots" /S /D

You forgot "attrib +r -s -h " in Screenshots line

 

[Brink]

Oops. Thank you Ron. Corrected.

 

[Emma]

Hello! I hope you can help before I get in more of a mess!

I was moving the documents folder to my D:\ partition, but forgot to set up the temp documents folder first. I ended up with the documents folder being the D:\ partition.

I couldn't make a new document folder, as windows says it already exists.

I tried to follow Option 2, changed the registry entry for the Personal value and re-booted twice.

1. I now have a Documents folder with correct icon - but with no location tab - in my user-name folder location.
2. The Personal value name in the registry has the correct value data now (it was linked to D: previously).
3. I still have an entry for (D: ) in my user-name folder entries (can't delete).
4. Under This PC I have an entry for D:\ with the Documents icon (can't delete).

I'm obviously in a bit of a mess and would appreciate some help in removing the two entries for D: where it should be a link to documents and also how to correct the new Document folder without the location tab I got through Option 2.

Sorry I've not explained this well!

Thank you.

Emma

 

[Brink]

Hello! I hope you can help before I get in more of a mess!

I was moving the documents folder to my D:\ partition, but forgot to set up the temp documents folder first. I ended up with the documents folder being the D:\ partition.

I couldn't make a new document folder, as windows says it already exists.

I tried to follow Option 2, changed the registry entry for the Personal value and re-booted twice.

1. I now have a Documents folder with correct icon - but with no location tab - in my user-name folder location.
2. The Personal value name in the registry has the correct value data now (it was linked to D: previously).
3. I still have an entry for (D: ) in my user-name folder entries (can't delete).
4. Under This PC I have an entry for D:\ with the Documents icon (can't delete).

I'm obviously in a bit of a mess and would appreciate some help in removing the two entries for D: where it should be a link to documents and also how to correct the new Document folder without the location tab I got through Option 2.

Sorry I've not explained this well!

Thank you.

Emma

Hello Emma, and welcome to Seven Forums.

See if you may be able to fully do OPTION TWO to restore the default C location after restarting the computer.

 

[Emma]

THANK YOU, Brink!

I ran through Option 2 a second time and the folders are correct now. Phew...!

I got an error message when I shut down afterwards (something about not able to access memory or something - it flashed off too quickly), but I've shut down again, and didn't get it so I'm hoping it's alright.

Thank you very much for your help - and for providing all the great and detailed information on your site and forum; it's really helped me out as I'm new to windows 8.

Emma

 

[Brink]

You're most welcome Emma. I'm happy to hear it's working fine now.

 

[Greg Burke]

Thankyou very much for this article! I skim read the article and didn't at first realise that there were two similar folders in regedit called "Shell Folders" and "User Shell Folders". I just edited the registry for Shell Folders manually, rebooted, but of course that didn't work. Then I reread and changed User Shell Folders too, signed in and out of Windows 8.1 and problem solved! Thanks!

 

[N00berG00ber]

ok im having an issue with CMD. when i type the final command into CMD, i get these errors:

Microsoft Windows [Version 6.1.7601]
Copyright (c) 2009 Microsoft Corporation.  All rights reserved.

C:\Windows\system32>attrib +r -s -h "%Patrick%\Downloads" /S /D
Path not found - C:\Windows\system32\%Patrick%

C:\Windows\system32>attrib +r -s -h "%Patrick%\Videos" /S /D
Path not found - C:\Windows\system32\%Patrick%

C:\Windows\system32>

I Put those folders there. but in the registry, everything is correct.... Help?

 

[Kaktussoft]

ok im having an issue with CMD. when i type the final command into CMD, i get these errors:

Microsoft Windows [Version 6.1.7601]
Copyright (c) 2009 Microsoft Corporation.  All rights reserved.
 
C:\Windows\system32>attrib +r -s -h "%Patrick%\Downloads" /S /D
Path not found - C:\Windows\system32\%Patrick%
 
C:\Windows\system32>attrib +r -s -h "%Patrick%\Videos" /S /D
Path not found - C:\Windows\system32\%Patrick%
 
C:\Windows\system32>

I Put those folders there. but in the registry, everything is correct.... Help?

Use the right commands!
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/18583-user-folders-restore-default-location.html step 25

 

[N00berG00ber]

ok im having an issue with CMD. when i type the final command into CMD, i get these errors:

Microsoft Windows [Version 6.1.7601]
Copyright (c) 2009 Microsoft Corporation.  All rights reserved.
 
C:\Windows\system32>attrib +r -s -h "%Patrick%\Downloads" /S /D
Path not found - C:\Windows\system32\%Patrick%
 
C:\Windows\system32>attrib +r -s -h "%Patrick%\Videos" /S /D
Path not found - C:\Windows\system32\%Patrick%
 
C:\Windows\system32>

I Put those folders there. but in the registry, everything is correct.... Help?

Use the right commands!
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/18583-user-folders-restore-default-location.html step 25

i copied and pasted. and the ones you posted still dont work. "path not found"

 

[Kaktussoft]

Ylou are in http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/18583-user-folders-restore-default-location.html step 25 isn't it? If so, do exactly what is written there. If error.... post output

 

[N00berG00ber]

Ylou are in http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/18583-user-folders-restore-default-location.html step 25 isn't it? If so, do exactly what is written there. If error.... post output

yes. thats what im trying to do. im trying to do step 25 and i get that error posted before.

 

[Kaktussoft]

Only errors I see is your post #196
why did you copy/paste attrib +r -s -h "%Patrick%\Downloads" /S /D
??? It's nowhere in tutorial. It looks like you aren't doing step 25 at all

 

[N00berG00ber]

this is step 25:

25. [COLOR="Red"]In the elevated command prompt, Copy and Paste the command below exactly as is for the user folder icon that you want to restore to default, and press Enter.[/COLOR] (see table below)
NOTE: This will set the user folder attributes back to default. You can Copy and Paste these to make it easier for you.
Windows 8 will not have the "My" in front of the user folder name anymore.

User Folder	Command
Contacts	 attrib +r -s -h "%USERPROFILE%\Contacts" /S /D
Desktop	 attrib +r -s -h "%USERPROFILE%\Desktop" /S /D
My Documents	 attrib +r -s -h "%USERPROFILE%\Documents" /S /D
Downloads	 attrib +r -s -h "%USERPROFILE%\Downloads" /S /D
Favorites	 attrib +r -s -h "%USERPROFILE%\Favorites" /S /D
Links	 attrib +r -s -h "%USERPROFILE%\Links" /S /D
My Music	 attrib +r -s -h "%USERPROFILE%\Music" /S /D
My Pictures	 attrib +r -s -h "%USERPROFILE%\Pictures" /S /D
Saved Games	 attrib +r -s -h "%USERPROFILE%\Saved Games" /S /D
Screenshots (Windows 8/8.1)	 attrib +r -s -h "%USERPROFILE%\Pictures\Screenshots" /S /D
Searches	 attrib +r -s -h "%USERPROFILE%\Searches" /S /D
SkyDrive (Windows 8.1)	 attrib +r -s -h "%USERPROFILE%\SkyDrive" /S /D
My Videos	 attrib +r -s -h "%USERPROFILE%\Videos" /S /D


26. Close the elevated command prompt.

EDIT:

nvm i understand now. i thought i had to replace %USERPROFILE% with my user profile. so now we shall see how long it takes to come up...