How to properly Move the "Saved Games" folder

[Rudel_chw]

Hello,

 

I've seen a lot of threads where people seem to have issues when relocating the "Saved Games" folder, where DCS stores the players data, so I was surprised to see that there isn't yet a Guide about this subject. So, here is my attempt at explaining how to do this chore.

 

First of all, "Saved Games" is a special Windows folder that is made when your Windows account is created. This folder is special because it has additional properties that common folder do not have. If you try to move "Saved Games" by means of copy/paste, you will end up with a common folder that happens to be named "Saved Games" but has none of its special properties.

 

The User Folder:

 

By default, the path to this folder is C:\Users\your-user-name\Saved Games\  ... you can navigate to it by double clicking on your User Folder icon that is on the desktop, like this:

 

 

If your desktop does not have this icon, then right click on the desktop wallpaper and on the context Menu select "Customize" (this text is customized according to your Windows language, on my spanish Windows it says "Personalizar".  Then select "Themes" and then "Desktop Icons", it should show this dialog:

 

 

Make sure that "User Files" is ticked, like on the illustration.

 

Your User Files should look somewhat like this:

 

 

Moving "Saved Games":

 

I have highlighted "Saved Games" ("Juegos Guardados" on my spanish Windows). Right click on it and on its context menu select Properties and then select "Location", you should see a dialog like this, with the current location of the folder:

 

 

It is here that you can move the folder ... simply type a valid path. Please, MAKE SURE to specify a folder name, or else your saved games contents will be placed on the root of the drive. For example:

 

 

Here, I will move the whole "Saved Games" folder onto my drive F:  ... click OK ("Aceptar"), since I have not manually created the "F:\Saved Games" folder, Windows will offer to create it:

 

 

Click YES, to let Windows create it. Then Windows will ask you if you want it to move the contents of the folder to its new location:

 

 

Click YES again. Windows will then proceed to move the files, it may take a while depeding on how large the folder is:

 

 

Once the move finishes, you can go to the destination and confirm that the "Saved Games" folder is actually there:

 

 

You can tell that the Move was correct, because the folder still has its custom icon. You can also check its properties on your User Folder and confirm its new path, like this:

 

 

Exception:

 

The above process will move all the folders and files contained on the prior "Saved Games" location, EXCEPT symbolic links. If you use symbolic links, like I do, you will need to re-create them, like this:

 

 

Why do I use these links? ... to place folders on my cloud drive, so that I have a continous backup of the most important data .. on my case that would be the HOTAS Config, Views & SnapViews, Liveries, Missions, Kneeboards, Pilot Logbook, Static Templates and Screenshots.  Once I recreated them, the /Saved Games/DCS/ folder looks like this:

 

 

The small arrows on the folders, mark them as symbolic links, pointng to another place within the PC's file system.

 

Well, hope that was clear enough and will be useful. Best regards,

 

 

Eduardo

 

 

Edited August 9, 2021 by Rudel_chw

[jonsky7]

Nice guide 

[CallsignLord]

Gracias eduardo seguramente algun dia lo voy a necesitar

[Rudel_chw]

1 hour ago, CallsignLord said:

Gracias eduardo seguramente algun dia lo voy a necesitar

 

 es util para los que tenemos un disco C pequeño .. no solo puedes mover a otro disco la carpeta de "Juegos Guardados", se puede hacer lo mismo con otras carpetas de tu Usuario, como "Escritorio", "Documentos", "Imágenes", etc.

 

(english)

This is useful for those of us with a small C drive .. not only you can move the "Saved Games" folder, the same can be done with other folders of your User, like "Desktop", "Documents", "Images", etc.

 

[jackd]

Thanks, i can read german, a little french, but spanish is new to me . But it woked ...

I understand it's for all saved games?

Edited October 26, 2021 by jackd

[Rudel_chw]

53 minutes ago, jackd said:

I understand it's for all saved games?

 

Correct. other Games that also save their user data on that folder, will have their data moved also, but this movement is invisible to the games, so they will still work as if /Saved Games/ was still at its original location.