Change Download Location In IE9, IE8, Firefox and Chrome

Most web browsers will automatically download files to a default location e.g. Desktop or a special Downloads folder. But you may want to change this location – perhaps to a different partition or a folder of your own choosing.

Below are guides showing how to change the download location in Firefox, Google Chrome, IE9 and IE8.

Change Download Location In Firefox – Easy

• Click ‘Tools’ in the menu bar then ‘Options’ to open the Options window
• Click the ‘General’ tab then select the ‘Save files to’ radio button and press the ‘Browse’ button

• Navigate to the folder where you want downloads to be saved (you can create a new folder if required) then press OK
• Your new download location should now be shown in the General tab (e.g. D:\My Downloads)
• Press OK to apply the change

Change Download Location In Chrome – Easy

• Click the wrench (spanner) icon at top right of the Chrome toolbar
• Select ‘Options’ to open the Options tab
• Click the ‘Under the Bonnet’ tab in the left panel
• In the ‘Downloads’ section, click the ‘Change’ button

• Navigate to the folder where you want downloads to be saved (you can create a new folder if required) then press OK
• Your new download location should now be shown in the ‘Downloads’ section (e.g. D:\My Downloads)
• Close the Options tab – your change is applied

Change Download Location In IE9 – Easy

[IE9 is only available to Vista and Windows 7 users, not XP]

• Click the Gear (cog) icon at top right of the IE toolbar
• Select ‘View downloads’ to open the View Downloads window
• Click the ‘Options’ link at bottom left to open the Download Options window

• Press the ‘Browse’ button and navigate to the folder where you want downloads to be saved (you can create a new folder if required) then press the ‘Select Folder’ button
• Click OK to apply the change then click Close to finish

Change Download Location In IE8 – Advanced

[XP users are stuck with IE8 – IE9 is not an option. However, the most recent versions of better alternatives such as Google Chrome and Firefox work fine on XP]

There is no menu option available in IE8 to change download location – it must be changed by editing the registry.

Warning: The registry is a very important database containing Windows configuration settings. Before editing it you should create a new System Restore point in case you need to revert back to before the changes.

• Click ‘Start’ then click ‘Run’ then type  Regedit  and press the OK button to open the Registry Editor
• Navigate through the left panel of the registry to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software\ Microsoft \ Internet Explorer

• If there is a key named ‘Download Directory’ in the right panel:

Double click this key to edit it – replace the ‘Value data’ with a valid directory (full path name e.g. D:\My Downloads) where you want downloads to be stored and press OK

• If there is not a key named ‘Download Directory’ in the right panel:

Right click on an empty space in the right panel and select ‘New’ then ‘String Value’

Type in the name of this new value as   Download Directory  then press Enter to confirm the name

Double click this new string to edit it – type into the ‘Value data’ a valid directory (full path name e.g. D:\My Downloads) where you want downloads to be stored and press OK

• Close the Registry Editor then shutdown and restart your computer for the change to take effect

Conclusion

For many people the current download location may be fine but it is sometimes better to change it – especially if it is set to Desktop so that the entire Desktop ends up crammed with a confusing mix of program shortcuts, folders, archives and installation files.

It is easy to change download location in Firefox, Chrome and IE9 but much harder to do in IE8 – because there is no menu option.