How to move PC games to another hard drive?

SSDS have become bigger, but games too… Call of Duty: Modern Warfare now reached more than 200 gcea which leaves no room for much other on a disc of modest size.If you are ready to give up some of these ultra-rapid loading times, you can move some of your games on a secondary hard drive with more space without having to retelulate them.

Some game customers, such as Steam and EA Origin, have integrated functions that allow you to move your games from one place to the other.Others, like Epic Games Store, require a little finesse to move the files of a game.Here's how to proceed on the most popular launchers.

Steam: Add a new library file

There is a good chance that most of your digital collection resides in Steamqui, fortunately, can easily move your games. Depuis la fenêtre principale, allez dans Steam &gt ; Paramètres dans le coin supérieur gauche et allez à l’onglet Téléchargements dans la barre latérale.Click the button at the top titled Steam Library Folders, then click Add Library Folder (Add a library folder).You can choose any other folder on your system to use it as a secondary installation location.

From now on, when you install a new game, you will have the choice between your preselected library files.I place the games I am currently playing on my SSD, and the games that I occasionally revisit on my hard drive, slower and in rotation.

To move a game you have installed, right -click on its name in the Steam Library's sidebar, then go to the Local Files tab.Click the Move the installation folder, and Steam will offer you a drop-down list with all your pre-choisis library folders.Select the one to which you want to move the game, then click the Move the folder button.

This operation can take a little time if the game files occupy a lot of space, but once it is finished, Steam will launch the game normally without problem.Note that you may need to do some additional work if you have installed personalized mods, but for most titles, it's as simple as that.See also our list of the best steam tips to find out more.

Gog Galaxy: Move the backrest and reinstall

Gog Galaxy aims to be a one -stop shop for all your play libraries.But it also allows you to download and install games from other sites.Gog.com.It does not offer a integrated button to move these games to a new folder, but it allows you to install the games where you want: when you install a new game, you can choose to install it in a folder other than thatby default.And we can handle this feature to move games to a new location.

Pour déplacer un jeu, accédez au dossier d’installation deGog Galaxy – le dossier par défaut est le suivant C:Program Files (x86)GOG GalaxyGames-puis cliquez avec le bouton droit de la souris sur le dossier contenant le jeu en question.Copy and glue this folder in your new location, for example, D: Gamesgog-and Wait that the files are copied.

Une fois que c’est fait, ouvrezGog Galaxy, faites un clic droit sur le jeu, et choisissez Gérer l’installation &gt ; Désinstaller.You will get an error indicating that it was not possible to uninstall the game, but it does not matter.Click on the game again to install it, and when you ask where you want to install it, choose the folder where you copied the game files (in our example, D: Gamesgog).It will start to install the game, realize that the files are already there, and the installation will end very quickly, without retelling the files a second time.

EA Origin: Move the game from the Origin customer

Origin has an integrated "moving" button that makes this process very simple, even simpler than that of Steam, since you do not need to first create a new "library folder".When you install a new game, you can install it in the folder of your choice, on any disc.

To move an Origin game to a new folder, just click the game right on the game in the Origin Library view, choose to move the game and navigate to your new disc.You will see the progression in a contextual window of the file explorer, and when it is done, you can play the game as if nothing had happened.(Finally, except for loading times).

BlizzardBattle.net: move the files, then redirect the launcher

For games using theBattle launcher.Net of Blizzard, like Overwatch, you will have to move the files yourself, then directBattle.net to the new location.So go to yourBattle game directory.net and select the game folder you want to move.

Cut and glue this folder at the desired location on the new disc, then openBattle.net and click on the Blizzard menu in the upper left corner to access the settings.Under the Game Install/Update tab, find the game in question and click on the Use A Different Folder button.

Navigate to where you moved the files on your new disk, and you should be ready.Battle.Net will check the integrity of the files and you can play the game from its new location without having to re-tackle it.

Epic Games: deceive the store to take a download finished.

The epic game The launcher is one of the most boring stores with which you can move games.First, find the file in which the game of your choice is currently installed (e.g..C: Program Filesepic Gamesfortnite) and move this file to the new location (for example D: Gamesepicfortnite).Then modify the name of the folder, something like "Fortnite1" would be suitable in this case.

Open the Epic Games store, click on the three points under the game in question, and choose uninstall.The game should "uninstall" immediately, since the files are no longer there.Click on the game to start the installation process again, but this time, choose the desired location on the new disk (e.g..D: gamesepicfortnite without the "1" that you added).Epic will not install a game in an existing file, which is why we have to go through this song and this dancing.

Once the installation is started, click on the download tab in the side of the Epic launcher, and click on the X to cancel the installation.Now go back to the folder where the game files are on your new disk are and delete the new folder - in this case, "Fortnite" - and rename the "Fortnite1" folder in "Fortnite".

Go back to the Epic launcher and click on the game in question to resume download.He should see your files on the disk, check that they are all there, and finish installing the game without downloading anything.

Microsoft Store: Move games from Windows settings

Despite all the hatred which Microsoft's UWP (Universal Windows Platform) games have been the subject of games in the past, it is very easy to move them to a new reader or backrest.To do this, go to the Windows 10 website. Réglages &gt ; Apps &gt ; Apps &amp ; Fonctionnalitéspuis trouvez le jeu dans la liste des programmes ajoutés/supprimés.Next to the uninstaller button, you will see a moving button that allows you to move the game on any disk - not just any folder, but at least you can remove it from your SSD and place it on another disc wherespace is less precious.

Ubisoft Uplay: Move the files, then redirect the launcher.

Uplay d’Ubisoft est similaire àBattle.Net: To move a game, you must move real files using the file explorer.So find the repertoire of the game in question (by default, it will be under C: Program Files (X86) Ubisoftubisoft Game Launchergames) and copy it to your new disc.Remove the file from its old location.

Open Uplay, then right click on the game in question and choose uninstall.Once Uplay marks the game as uninstalled, right click on the game and choose display the details of the game.You should see a new download button called Locate Game appear.Click on this button, direct the launcher to the new location of your game, and it should detect all the game files, allowing you to play without having to download it again.

Are there no other options?Create a symbolic link

Most launchers should allow a process similar to that described above if you want to move your games.If this is not the case, there is one last option that you can try: symbolic links.Symbolic links are a bit like shortcuts, except that your computer will treat the shortcut as if it were the real folder to which it points, so that the game files will not make the difference.

I have not yet met a modern game that requires this, but this is how we did things before Steam added the possibility of having several library files.This can be useful in certain situations.

Let's say we move a game of C: Program FilesMyawesomegame to D: GameMyawesomegame.Move the myawesomegame folder, then right -click the Start menu and choose the command prompt (admin).Run the following command:

Mklink /D "C: Program FilesMyawesomegame" "D: GameMyawesomegame"

You will see an icon resembling a shortcut in the original folder, pointing to the new location.The game will not even see the difference, which means that it should start without problem and that you can recover the space you need on your SSD.