How to Change Download location in Microsoft Edge browser

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This tutorial details how to modify the default folder for downloads in the Microsoft Edge browser. It begins with a running of the browser, then navigation to settings, and finally to changing the download location. Additionally, it outlines how to use the Windows registry to enforce a standard download folder across all users, as long…

This brief tutorial shows students and new users how to change the default downloads folder in the Microsoft Edge browser.

The new Microsoft Edge browser has adopted the Chromium open-source project code base, offering better web compatibility and performance over the legacy Edge.

Microsoft Edge will automatically save files and other items you want to download into your C:\Users\Downloads profile (%UserProfile%\Downloads) folder by default.

If the default location is unsuitable for your environment and you want to change the download folder, continue the steps below.

Change the Microsoft Edge download folder

As described above, you can change the default download location for the Microsoft Edge browser, and the steps below show you how.

First, open the Microsoft Edge browser.

Then click on Setting and more (Alt+F) 3 horizontal dots button on the top right corner and select Settings.

Next, click on Downloads on the left menu.

Alternatively, type the line below into the Edge address box to go straight to the Downloads folder settings.

edge://settings/downloads

On the Settings -> Downloads settings pane, click the Change button under the Downloads section to choose a download location.

For this tutorial, the Desktop will be our new download location.

You can now close the Microsoft Edge settings page.

Change the Downloads folder via the Registry

You can also change the default Downloads folder via the Windows registry. This policy also changes all user’s default downloads folders.

You can also change the downloads folder via the Windows registry if logged in as an administrator. To do that, use the steps below:

Using the Windows registry is one way to force all users on the system to have the same default Downloads folders. There are multiple ways to do this in Windows; however, using the Windows registry is the easiest and most effective way.

To enable, press the Windows Key + on your keyboard to open the run command box. Or use the search function to search for the Run app.

In the command box, type the commands below and press Enter.

regedit

Then the Registry opens; navigate to the path below.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Edge

From there, right-click on the Edge key and select the New > String Value option to create a REG_SZ value if you don’t see the existing DownloadDirectory value already created.

Name the new REG_SZ value as

DownloadDirectory

After saving the DWORD above, double-click it to open. Then enter the value of "C:\Users\Public\Desktop" to enable.

That should do it!

If you enable this policy, Microsoft Edge uses the provided directory regardless of whether the user has specified one or chosen to be prompted for download location every time. If you set an invalid path, Microsoft Edge will default to the user’s default download directory.

If the folder specified by the path doesn’t exist, the download will trigger a prompt that asks the user where they want to save their download.

That’s it!

Conclusion:

This post showed you how to change the default downloads folder in Microsoft Edge. If you find any error, please use the comment form below to report it.

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