The registry and symbolic link methods offer deeper control but introduce instability, security risks, and are not recommended for production systems or users without expert-level Windows knowledge. Always maintain current backups before attempting system-level storage changes.
Open PowerShell as Admin and run:
Report ID: WIN10-CONFIG-009 Date: October 2023 (Updated for general use) Author: Systems Engineering Team Target OS: Microsoft Windows 10 (Pro, Home, Enterprise, Education) Version: 21H2, 22H2 and later 1. Executive Summary By default, Windows 10 installs all new applications, games, and Windows Store apps to the system drive (usually C:\Program Files and C:\Program Files (x86) ). For users with limited SSD capacity or those who wish to optimize storage usage, changing the default installation path to a secondary drive or partition (e.g., D:\ or E:\ ) is possible, though with critical limitations. how to change default install location windows 10