- To move installed apps to another drive on Windows 11, open Settings > Apps > Installed apps, choose “Move” from the app’s menu, select the new location, and click “Move.”
- To move installed apps on Windows 10, open Settings > Apps > Apps & features, choose the app, click “Move,” select the new location, and click “Move.”
Windows 11 (and 10) allows you to move installed apps to an external or secondary drive without having to reinstall them, and in this guide, I’ll outline the steps to complete this configuration. Although there are a vast number of reasonably small Windows apps, many can take up a lot of space (especially games), and while storage is cheap, there are still devices with limited capacity.
If your device is running out of space or you simply want to organize apps and games in a different drive, Windows 10 (and 11) include a feature that allows you to easily move apps already installed on the computer to another SD Card, microSD, USB flash drive, or external hard drive.
In this guide, I’ll teach you the steps to move apps from the Microsoft Store to another location to free up space on your computer.
Move installed apps on Windows 11
To move installed apps to a new drive on Windows 11, use these steps:
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Open Settings on Windows 11.
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Click on Apps.
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Click the Installed apps page.
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Click the app menu on the right side and choose the Move option.
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Select the new drive location for the app.
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Click the Move button.
Once you complete the steps, the already installed app on your computer will now be stored in the new drive.
Move installed apps on Windows 10
To move installed apps to a new drive on Windows 10, use these steps:
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Open Settings on Windows 10.
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Click on Apps.
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Click on Apps & features.
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Select the app or game to move to another drive.
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Click the Move button.
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Select the drive to move the app.
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Click the Move button.
After you complete the steps, the app will be moved to the new drive.
When moving installed apps to another location, it’s a good idea to use a dedicated drive that you’ll not disconnect. It’s important to note that the system won’t fail when disconnecting the drive, but apps won’t run until you reconnect it. (If you disconnect the drive when launching an app, then the app will get corrupted, and reinstallation will be required.)
If you want to move an app that doesn’t support this feature, you could change the default system install location (use these instructions for Windows 11), uninstall the app you want to move, and reinstall it again from the Microsoft Store. This way, the app will now install automatically in the new location, but you may lose app data depending on the app.
You will find this feature particularly useful when you have a laptop or tablet with limited disk space and a microSD or SD card slot available to add more storage. Or when you have a gaming PC, and you want to move the games you bought from the Microsoft Store to a different location other than your main drive.
Finally, remember that not every app supports this feature. For example, built-in apps, traditional desktop applications, and other apps cannot be moved.
Mauro Huculak is a Windows How-To Expert who started Pureinfotech in 2010 as an independent online publication. He has also been a Windows Central contributor for nearly a decade. Mauro has over 15 years of experience writing comprehensive guides and creating professional videos about Windows and software, including Android and Linux. Before becoming a technology writer, he was an IT administrator for seven years. In total, Mauro has over 21 years of combined experience in technology. Throughout his career, he achieved different professional certifications from Microsoft (MSCA), Cisco (CCNP), VMware (VCP), and CompTIA (A+ and Network+), and he has been recognized as a Microsoft MVP for many years. You can follow him on X (Twitter), YouTube, LinkedIn and About.me. Email him at [email protected].