How To Move A Steam Game To Another Drive

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Steam is game heaven—you can install and enjoy the latest games at a click of a button and install older ones in case of nostalgia hits. However, many gamers on Steam fill one single drive on their PC with Steam games, forgetting that this may cause many problems to their PC and gaming performance.

Luckily, we have three easy ways for you to move your Steam games to another drive. So, let’s dive right into it!

Benefits of Moving a Steam Game to Another Drive

Before we get into how to move steam games to another drive, it is good to know first why you would do that in the first place. It’s never good to stuff one place on your PC with many games. One consequence is that if you load your games, you can end up with a disappointing error since your computer is overwhelmed. Fortunately, this can be solved by moving your games from this full drive to another.

Freeing up some space is another advantage of moving games to another location. Your playing speed and performance may also improve if you do that. So, moving files manually on your PC is required. Due to Steam’s automatic game installation, the C: drive on your computer will gradually fill up with files over time.

Thus, moving your Steam games to a different drive is highly recommended for the reasons mentioned above.

There is more than one method to move your Steam games to another drive. Here are the three best methods to do that successfully:

Method #1

Log into your Steam Account
Click on ‘Steam’
Choose ‘Settings’
Select ‘Downloads’
Choose ‘Steam Library Folder’
Select ‘Add Library Folder’
Click on ‘New Folder’ or choose any other folder you want
From this point forward, all new games will be kept in the newly-created folder or the folder you choose.
Choose ‘Local Files’ if you want any pre-installed game to be moved to a different folder.
In your top menu, Click on ‘Library’
Right-click on any game you want

Choose ‘Properties’

Select ‘Move Install Folder’

Choose ‘Move Folder’

Method #2

Go to the Steam folder on your PC by going to your local disc (C:)
Click on ‘Program Files(x86)’
Click on ‘Steam’
Copy the Steam folder
Paste the Steam folder to a different drive
The old Steam folder can be deleted or renamed for later usage.

Method #3

From Stream, download ‘Steam Library Manager’
To view the library and every game you have on Steam, choose ‘Library.’ All game folders can be dragged and dropped into this place.
Select ‘Task Manager’
To move games, Choose ‘Start’

How to Move More than One Steam Game to Another Drive

You can also save time and energy and move more than one game if you want to:

Log into your Steam Account
Click on ‘Steam’
Choose ‘Settings’
Select ‘Downloads’
Choose ‘Steam Library Folder’
Select ‘⊕’
Select ‘dropdown list’
Select the location
Select ‘Add’
Choose the drive you want
Select ‘New Folder’
Select ‘OK’
Choose ‘Select’
Go to ‘Storage Manager’
Choose the games you want to move
Select ‘Move’

How to Change The Location of Steam Library

Log into your Steam account
Click on ‘Steam’
Choose ‘Settings’
Select ‘Downloads’
Choose ‘Steam Library Folder’
Select ‘⊕’
Select ‘dropdown list’
Select any drive you like

FAQs

Why can’t I move my Steam games to another library?

When there is no more room for updates, you can face the problem of not being able to move your Steam games to another library. To free up some space, consider uninstalling a few unnecessary games. After that, uninstall and reinstall your new game.

Why can’t I move my Steam games to another drive?

If you tried all three methods but nothing worked, the problem could lie in the .acf files, which you can find in your SteamApps folder. These files should be moved to the drive containing your game(s), and then the .acf files should be deleted.

Is it possible to move the Steam Installation to another hard drive?

Yes. Follow these steps to move the Steam Installation to another hard drive:

Log out from your Steam account
Close the app
Go to the Program Files, where you can find your Steam installation
Only leave the Steam.exe, SteamApps folder, and Userdata folder, and delete the rest
Cut and paste your Steam folder into the desired place
Log into your Steam account
Once the updates have finished, verify your files’ integrity.

Note: Before moving the Steam Installation to another hard drive, it is essential to make sure that you have both your password and login name to be able to reset the password if anything happens. Plus, you want to check whether your email is linked to your Steam account or not before starting to move your Steam installation. Finally, you want to back up SteamApps because if you encounter any issue during or after this process, you will have to reinstall each game separately.

Is it possible to move the whole Steam folder to another drive?

Yes. Follow these steps to move the whole folder to another drive:

Log out from your Steam account
Close the app
Go to the Program Files, where you can find your Steam installation
Only leave the Steam.exe file, SteamApps folder, and Userdata folder, and delete the rest
Cut and paste your Steam folder into the desired place
Log into your Steam account
Once the updates have finished, verify your files’ integrity.

How to Move a Steam Game to Another Drive | Top 3 Ways

Benefits of Moving a Steam Game to Another Drive