Move Users Folder to Another Drive in Windows Server 2012

Want to move Users folder to another drive in Windows Server 2012 (R2)/2016/2019/2022? The best Windows Server backup software – AOMEI Backupper Server and a Windows built-in feature can give you a hand.

Maggie

by Maggie Updated on September 15, 2023

Share this: instagram reddit

The case: how do I move Users folder to another drive in Windows Server 2012?

How do I move my user folder to another drive?

I was wondering if I can move my whole user folder from C:\Users to my D:\ drive. Is there a way to do this? And after I do it would I need to go into every program I have and change the save location or would the AppData all move with it?

- Question from Tomashardware.com

Yes, you can move the entire user folder to another drive with 2 effective methods. And I'll introduce you to more about the User folder and why move it to another drive. Please continue to see below for details. 

Page Contents:

What is Users folder and why to move it to another drive?

The User folder is a special folder coming along in C: drive when you install the Windows operating system, and you are able to set user name and password (if necessary). And it contains permission settings and subfolders for each Windows account that has logged in, such as, Documents, Picture, Downloads, Music, Desktop, etc. And you need to gain acess permission if you want to access other users’ folder.

As the data of Users folder increases, more and more people choose to move Users folder to another drive in Windows Server 2012. You may ask why. There are two main reasons.

  • Folders are easy to lose due to hard drive failure and operating system corruption.

  • Save the space of the C: drive and improve the performance of your PC.

Therefore, it’s necessary to sync folders to another drive. Then, how to move user profile to different drive? Don’t worry! This article will introduces you to two effective methods.

How to move Users folder to another drive in Windows Server 2012

It’s easy to move Users folder to another drive, as long as you take the right approach. There are two efficient methods for your reference.

Note: It's not suggested to move the entire Users folder to another drive, because it contains some important system files. But you can move the Desktop, Documents, Picture, Downloads folder to another drive.

Copy Users folder to another drive with AOMEI Backupper Server

AOMEI Backupper Server is a reliable and easy-to-use file sync software that allows you to move Users folder to different drive. You can benefit a lot from the following features:

✧ 4 Sync Solution: you can use "Basic Sync", "Real-Time Sync", "Mirror Sync", "Two-Way Sync" to sync files between different folders, drives, or even computers. You can also sync local folders to OneDrive, Google Drive, and Dropbox, etc.
✧ Scheduled sync: you are able to set automatic sync based on a specified time, events or devices. This feature makes it easy to sync data between 2 Servers automatically.
✧ Compatibility: This professional software runs smoothly on Windows Server 2003, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2016, 2019, 2022 (including R2), SBS 2003, 2008, 2011, and all the Windows PC systems.

By the way, the simple steps and intuitive interface can make your operation effortless. Want to use this software to move the Users folder to another drive in Windows Server 2012? There is a quick guide for your reference. The good news is that you also can refer to these steps to move the Users folder to another drive in Windows Server 2012 R2/2016/2019/2022.

Step 1. Install and open this software. Choose Sync from the left side. Then click Basic Sync.

Download Free Trial Server 2022/2019/2016/2012/2008
Secure Download

File Sync

Note: You still can choose other sync methods based on sync direction, frequency, or changes in the destination folder. Among them, the Real-time Sync is the safest method, in view of the fastest sync frequency, it will keep all changes at the maximum.

Step 2. Edit the task name as per your need. Click Add Folder to add the Users folder that needs to be synced.

Select Folder

Step 3. Select the destination drive (here is E:\My Backups). Then click Start Sync. to move users folder to another drive in Windows Server 2012.

Start Sync

Notes:
★ When the sync operation is in progress, you can click the Settings icon in the lower-left corner and select what you want the computer to do on completion. You may choose from Shut down PCRestart PCHibernate and Sleep.
★ Do not change the folder name of the source. Otherwise, the software cannot sync it anymore.
★ Since the User folder contain the most frequent used data, you can choose to backup user profile automaticaly with Schedule Sync feature. And you have 5 options, namely, Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Event triggers, or USB plug in.
★ Consider data security, except for the Sync methods, you still could try File Backup or Cloud Backup (with 1TB free cloud storage in 15 days) feature to move user profile. 

#2: Move user profile to another drive with Windows built-in feature

Windows built-in tool also can help users move Users folder to another drive with the help of the Move feature in the Properties window. If you want to have a try, you can refer to the following steps:

Step 1. Go to the target drive and create all the users folders you want to move, such as, DocumentsDesktopDownloadsPicturesVideos, and Music.

Step 2. Go C:\Users\User name to find the original Documents folder. or directly type %HOMEPATH% in the search box if you don't know the user name. 

Step 3. Right-click the user profile folder, here is Documents, and then choose Properties.

Step 4. Click on the Location tab. Then click Move to select the Documents folder in the target drive.

Built-in Feature

Step 5. If everything is correct, you can click ApplyOK to proceed.

For a single folder, you can use this simple method. However, for large numbers of folders, it would be much trouble to move these folders to another drive one by one.

Summary

Now you can move Users folder to another drive in Windows Server 2012 with these two efficient methods. It’s recommended to use AOMEI Backupper Server, because this useful utility not only help you move it, but also perform a continuous data proection.

What’s more, you can sync desktop to OneDrive and clone hard drive in Windows Server with AOMEI Backupper. In the meantime, you can do your work without any concern, because all the operations will run in the background.

Maggie
Maggie · Editor
Maggie is a technical editor from AOMEI and troubleshoots technical problems against data protection. She has received professional and systematic technical training. With a focus on user experience, security, and problem-solving, she always puts herself in the readers' shoes and provides them with valuable technical insights.