I have Windows 8.1 Pro installed on a new stand alone desktop system on the C: drive.

Want to change target location of:

C:\Users\Public\Documents  to  D:\Users\Public\Documents  because D: drive is much larger.  D: drive is Raid 1 using 2 - 2TB hard drives.

Public Documents Properties dialog box will not let me edit the target location using the Location tab.  I am logged into the computer using an account that is a member of the local Administrators group to try and make the change.  No errors given, it just won't let me change anything in the dialog box.

Is it possible to change the Public Documents target location using the Public Documents Properties dialog box Location tab?

If yes, how is it done?  If not, is there a registry key that can be changed to accomplish the task?

If not, what is the recommended method for changing the Public Documents target location?

You may go through registry tweaking.Here is how to:

Configure the Default Location of a User Profile in Windows 8.1

You can accomplish this by right clicking the folder (by browsing to it via File Explorer under C:) and selecting properties. Under the location tab you can change where the folder is located. See the Microsoft Support article here for more information.

Brandon
Windows Outreach Team- IT Pro
The Springboard Series on TechNet

• Edited by Brandon RecordsModerator Friday, January 10, 2014 4:30 AM
• Marked as answer by Roger LuMicrosoft contingent staff, Moderator Thursday, February 06, 2014 1:16 AM

I'd like to resurrect this topic.

Brandon, the standard solution you gave works fine for the "My Documents" folder in a user account, as well as any other such user account folders, but as the OP stated, when going to C:\Users\Public\Documents, right-clicking and bringing up its properties dialog, and then going to the location tab, the instructions for moving the public documents folder are there (they're identical to a user's "My Documents" folder), as is the edit box containing the path, but the edit box is un-editable and there are no "Restore Default", "Move", or "Find Target" buttons. This is true even when running an administrator account and launching windows explorer with elevated admin privileges. 

It's odd that the public documents folder's location tab indicates it should be movable, yet it's not the location tab seems to be non-functional.

Is there a way to do this, for the public my documents folder (and other such public data folders) via the location tab?

As a note: I'm aware of various registry hacks and mklink junction solutions, but from what I've read the most "portable" (i.e. least-likely-to-bork-something-up) way to move data folder's with location tabs is to actually use the location tab. For example, if you move user data folders at least (never tried with public data folders) and do mklink /junctions to them, doing a subsequent system restore may make these folders unfindable to certain system processes (e.g. desktop folder not found when logging in) Now, this may not be the case for public folders, but it would be nice to be consistent. In short, I'm not interested in solutions that involve these types of things, as I'm already aware of them.

Thanks in advance!

PS

Just to be 100% clear that neither I nor the OP are talking about a user's My Documents folder, here is an image of my machine's public document folder's location tab. As stated above, this is from a user account with admin privileges, launched from a window's explorer instance with elevated admin privileges.

Argh! I can't post the picture because my account's not verified. But I'm assuming anyone should be able to reproduce this.

PPS I should also say I'm still on Windows 7, but it looks like, based on the OPs question, that Windows 8 still has the same issue.

• Edited by LossMentality 1 hour 26 minutes ago

I'd like to resurrect this topic.

Brandon, the standard solution you gave works fine for the "My Documents" folder in a user account, as well as any other such user account folders, but as the OP stated, when going to C:\Users\Public\Documents, right-clicking and bringing up its properties dialog, and then going to the location tab, the instructions for moving the public documents folder are there (they're identical to a user's "My Documents" folder), as is the edit box containing the path, but the edit box is un-editable and there are no "Restore Default", "Move", or "Find Target" buttons. This is true even when running an administrator account and launching windows explorer with elevated admin privileges. 

It's odd that the public documents folder's location tab indicates it should be movable, yet it's not the location tab seems to be non-functional.

Is there a way to do this, for the public my documents folder (and other such public data folders) via the location tab?

As a note: I'm aware of various registry hacks and mklink junction solutions, but from what I've read the most "portable" (i.e. least-likely-to-bork-something-up) way to move data folder's with location tabs is to actually use the location tab. For example, if you move user data folders at least (never tried with public data folders) and do mklink /junctions to them, doing a subsequent system restore may make these folders unfindable to certain system processes (e.g. desktop folder not found when logging in) Now, this may not be the case for public folders, but it would be nice to be consistent. In short, I'm not interested in solutions that involve these types of things, as I'm already aware of them.

Thanks in advance!

PS

Just to be 100% clear that neither I nor the OP are talking about a user's My Documents folder, here is an image of my machine's public document folder's location tab. As stated above, this is from a user account with admin privileges, launched from a window's explorer instance with elevated admin privileges.

Argh! I can't post the picture because my account's not verified. But I'm assuming anyone should be able to reproduce this.

PPS I should also say I'm still on Windows 7, but it looks like, based on the OPs question, that Windows 8 still has the same issue.

• Edited by LossMentality Saturday, July 11, 2015 5:56 AM