How to Move Steam Games to Another Drive [2024]: 3 Methods

This guide on How to Move Steam Games to Another Drive will help to shift games easily. Steam was established in 2003 by Valve. The company wanted a specific platform where users could download the latest updates for Valve games. However, it did not take too long before the platform became the biggest video game distributor. 

Nowadays, you can find virtually any game on Steam, barring a few exclusives. But even then, these games tend to appear on Steam eventually. Some of the examples include Borderlands 3 and Gwent.

While Steam makes the lives of gamers simpler, some users encounter certain issues. Steam May fail to load, or you May be unable to install a game you just purchased. There are some solutions to such problems. 

Many Steam guides online recommend you restart the computer, remove the Steam cache regularly, or even reinstall the platform itself. However, there is one issue that May require other workarounds. And that issue is moving Steam data to another drive.

Reasons to Relocate Steam Games

There are two reasons why someone would want to relocate Steam game files.

Reason #1 – Lack of Drive Space

It is no secret that some video games, particularly AAA titles, require quite a lot of drive space. That is just how modern developers create games. Moreover, gamers do not stick to just having a v on their computer because they want variety. Playing the same game over and over gets boring real quick.

If a video game requires 50 gigabytes of drive space, downloading such a game will take a while. And most are reluctant to delete one video game to make space for another, especially if they have a slow internet connection. 

Reason #2 – Better Gaming Experience With an SSD

Having a hard drive and a solid-state drive on a PC is quite common. And since SSDs are better performance-wise, they would also improve the overall gaming experience. A video game on a solid-state drive will have more FPS, load faster, and allow users to improve graphics quality. 

Now that you know why moving Steam games to another location might be necessary, how about finding out how you can do it? Here are a few methods for that.

3 Methods: To Shift Steam Games

Below are the best and worked methods for How to Move Steam Games to Another Drive.

Read: Top 10 Games Like Skyrim You Must Try

Method 1: Use Built-In Move Install Folder Feature

It should not come as a surprise that Steam has a built-in feature to solve this problem. You are free to move individual games to another library or drive on Steam. However, keep in mind that the feature allows you to move one game at a time.

If you wish to relocate multiple video games at once, you will need to get third-party tools like Steam Mover or Steam Library Manager. Users can also take advantage of creating download folders via Add Library Folder. Confirm that you have the latest version of Steam and follow these steps:

• Launch Steam and add a new library folder in the Steam Library Folders section. 
• Select a drive you want to relocate the data to and add a new folder to the drive. Rename the folder and confirm by clicking OK on the pop-up. 
• The folder you created will now be present in the Steam library. And it will be the new default computer location for installing Steam games.
• To move the game, click on the Library tab at the top of the Steam homepage. Pick a game you want to move and right-click on it. Choose Properties.
• A new window will pop up, and you should find the Move Install Folder in the Local Files section.
• Clicking on the Move Folder will initiate the relocation process.

Method 2: Get Steam Library Manager

In addition to moving multiple Steam games simultaneously, Steam Library Manager also has a backup feature that allows you to backup important game files.

Get the tool from the official website and install it. The interface should be simple to figure out. You have a tab on the left that shows the Steam library location. From there, you can drag video games into the main tab and start the relocation process. 

There will be a log that generates information and lets you know in case something goes wrong and why the software cannot relocate video games.

Checkout: 5 Steps to Find Steam Purchase History

Method 3: Move the Entire Steam Install Folder

The third method is to move the entire Steam folder to another drive. Find the default install location. For most, it should be in the Program Files (x86) folder, but you can use the search on the computer to find the patch on your computer. Select the Steam folder and copy it. Paste the contents to the desired drive. It is recommended to leave the old Steam folder as a backup. 

Once the computer finishes copying Steam contents to another location, launch Steam and create a new shortcut. Confirm that the process went smoothly by launching a random game from the Steam folder. If the game works, there should not be any issues with the rest of the Steam game library.

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