Can I Move Steam to Another Drive? A Comprehensive Guide
If you’re tired of having to deal with limited storage space on your computer, you’ve probably considered moving Steam, your gaming platform, to another drive. Fortunately, Steam makes it relatively easy to do so, even if you’re not technical. In this article, we’ll explore the step-by-step process of transferring Steam to another drive.
Can I Move Steam to Another Drive? YES, You Can!
Steam provides its users with the ability to move the Steam Library and its games to another storage device, such as a hard drive or a solid-state drive (SSD). This is done via the Steam settings, allowing you to relocate the store of games and apps associated with your Steam account to a more spacious or faster storage device.
Benefits of Moving Steam to Another Drive
By moving Steam to another drive, you can:
- Free up disk space on your C: drive, making way for more important files.
- Improve Steam performance, as games and games data can be accessed at a faster rate.
- Take advantage of an external storage device designed for mass storage, resulting in improved storage efficiency and capacity.
- Easy access to your installed games from any connected hard drive.
Step-by-Step Guide to Move Steam to Another Drive
- Backup Important Files: Before making changes to your Steam Library location, backup your most recently played games, cloud syncing files, and game-saving data.
- Launch Steam: Start by launching Steam on your original drive.
- Settings: Click on ‘Settings’ in the main menu and select ‘Libraries’.
- Steam Library Folders: Click on ‘Add library folder’ and choose an external storage device to receive the transferred files. Keep in mind that Steam library folders must be named without spaces, and may look like: ‘ESteamLibrary folder’.
- Redirect Games to New Drive:
- Highlight one or more games, by clicking and dragging.
- Click ‘More -> Move folder’ (PC) or ‘More > Move Games’ (Laptop).
- Target the chosen external drive; this action will re locate the chosen games’ executable files to the external directory.
- For maximum flexibility, create subfolder within the chosen directory (‘E:Steam Library Subfolder’, for instance)
- Optional Setting: Add Library Folders:
- Settings > Steam Library Folders > New Library Folder button
- Follow your new location and provide appropriate naming.
Best External Storage Device for Moving Steam
The best storage media for storing your Steam libraries depend on your system-specific requirements:
- If you need high-speed drive access, opt for a high-performance hard disk drive (HDD or SSHD).
- For long-term reliability or data longevity, use either a traditional hard drive storage device (HDD).