Changing Location of User's Personal Folders Only Partially Works

0

I changed the location of a user's personal folders to a mounted network drive, by modifying the values under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders. After restarting explorer, the folders are moved as expected in Quick access only. If I go to the folder from "This PC", the old location is used. If I change the location of the folder manually, (right click > Properties > Location), it works fine.

Screenshot of problem in File Explorer

How can I change the location of the user's personal folders so that the changes apply everywhere in file explorer, including "This PC"? (I'm using Windows 10 Professional)

user7391836

Posted 2019-08-13T16:07:55.087

Reputation: 35

1Have you tried right clicking on the folder -> Properties -> Location, and then moving it that way? – Mr Ethernet – 2019-08-13T16:28:29.810

Answers

1

Most likely, it's because for some of the folders, when you move a folder via the Location tab in the Properties dialog, not only is the 'primary' value under User Shell Folders is modified, but a second one is created. For instance, if you move Documents, not only is the path for Personal changed, but a value named {f42ee2d3-909f-4907-8871-4c22fc0bf756} with the same path data is created as well. This behavior exists for Documents, Downloads, Picures, Music, and Videos. The pairing is as follows:

Downloads     {374DE290-123F-4565-9164-39C4925E467B}    {7d83ee9b-2244-4e70-b1f5-5393042af1e4}
Music         My Music     {a0c69a99-21c8-4671-8703-7934162fcf1d}
Pictures      My Pictures  {0ddd015d-b06c-45d5-8c4c-f59713854639}
Videos        My Video     {35286a68-3c57-41a1-bbb1-0eae73d76c95}
Documents     Personal     {f42ee2d3-909f-4907-8871-4c22fc0bf756}

So, if you create those additional values with the appropriate paths, the folders under This PC should be redirected as well.

Keith Miller

Posted 2019-08-13T16:07:55.087

Reputation: 1 789