How to Move Steam to Another Drive – 2 Easy Methods

Learn how to move Steam to another drive and still have all your games. We’ll go over which easy steps you can follow to also free up space and improve performance.

How to Move Steam to Another Drive

If your storage is full or you notice poor performance, we suggest move Steam to another drive. Lots of players move Steam out of the primary drive to free up space or to use a faster SSD. Also, we are happy to report that you don’t lose your games when you do this, as long as you do the transfer right.

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Why Move Steam to Another Drive

There are many reasons to move Steam to another drive. For one, your present drive may be full. Also, you may see improved speed and performance. When you move Steam to another drive, your games will install faster. Also, you may find it better to separate personal files (games in this case) from the system files, which will improve overall organization.

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Backup Before You Move Steam to Another Drive

Before you transfer Steam to a different drive, do a backup. Go to your current Steam install directory and copy the files to a safe place. This step is very important, as in the off chance something goes awry during the transfer of Steam to another drive, your data will be protected. A backup also means you won’t lose your games or other important files.

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Method 1: Move Steam to Another Drive Completely

Here is another way to get Steam off one drive and onto another. First, take out Steam from your present drive, which includes removing the install, but do preserve the SteamApps folder. Then install Steam on the new drive. Post installation, you’ll want to copy the SteamApps folder over to the new location. This method puts it so you don’t have to redownload all of your games.

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Method 2: Move Steam to Another Drive Using Library Folders

Another way to do this is through the use of Steam’s library feature. Go to Steam, in the Settings, which is found in the left-hand menu, then to Downloads, and from there click on Steam Library Folders. Add a new folder to the new drive. Also, you can do it by transferring the games yourself. Right-click the game, go to Properties, over to the Installed Files tab, and click Move Install Folder. This method is easy and works great.

Things to Check After You Move Steam to Another Drive

After you transfer Steam to a different drive, check that everything is working right. See that your games are launching fine and that there are no missing files. Also, you can do a full game file check from within Steam. Upon moving Steam to a different drive, make sure that your new setup is working correctly.

Tips for a Smooth Move Steam to Another Drive Process

To properly transition Steam to a different drive, make sure the new drive has sufficient space. We recommend using an SSD, which will improve performance. Also, do not interrupt the process while files are being transferred. By taking these steps, you will have a smooth transfer of Steam to another drive.

Conclusion

Learning to migrate Steam to a different drive is also a smart move, which will address your storage issues and, at the same time, improve gaming performance. You can do a full move of Steam to another drive or just pick and choose which games to move; either way, it works well. Also, see to it that you back up your data and step out carefully during the process when you do this. In this way, you’ll be able to enjoy your games as usual post-transfer.