Fix: Can’t move the folder because there is a folder in the same location that can’t be redirected

Kevin ArrowsUpdated on March 15, 2026
Kevin is a certified Network Engineer

When trying to move or change the location of folders such as Documents or Pictures, you may encounter the error:

“Can’t move the folder because there is a folder in the same location that can’t be redirected. Access is denied.”

Can't move the folder because there is a folder in the same location that can't be redirected

This error appears when Windows detects a conflict while redirecting a system shell folder. Shell folders include Documents, Desktop, Pictures, Downloads, Music, and Videos.

Windows blocks the change when the new location already contains another special folder or when the stored folder path conflicts with the current system configuration.

Common causes include:

  • Previous folder redirection changes
  • OneDrive Known Folder Backup automatically redirecting folders
  • Incorrect registry paths for shell folders
  • Overlapping system folder locations

For example, redirecting Documents to a location that already contains another special folder such as Desktop creates a conflict. Windows blocks the change to prevent system folder overlap. A related message may also appear as “cannot redirect a parent into a child”.

Because Windows stores shell folder locations in the registry, correcting the stored folder path usually resolves the issue.

This method restores the correct User Shell Folder path in the Windows registry. If the registry value points to the wrong location, Windows cannot redirect the folder correctly. Resetting the value restores the default Windows path and removes the conflict.

Note: This process only restores the folder location to the default Windows directory. Your files will not be deleted.

  1. Press Windows Key + R, type regedit, then press Enter. Click Yes if the User Account Control prompt appears.

Opening Registry Editor from the Run dialog

  1. In the Registry Editor address bar, paste the following path and press Enter:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders
  1. In the right pane, locate the value that corresponds to the folder causing the error. Each entry represents a Windows shell folder:
  • Personal = Documents
  • Desktop = Desktop
  • My Pictures = Pictures
  • My Music = Music
  • My Video = Videos
Locate and double-click the registry value for the folder you want to fix

Locate and double-click the registry value for the folder you want to fix

  1. Enter the correct default path for the folder:
Desktop        %USERPROFILE%\Desktop
Personal       %USERPROFILE%\Documents
My Pictures    %USERPROFILE%\Pictures
My Music       %USERPROFILE%\Music
My Video       %USERPROFILE%\Videos
Favorites      %USERPROFILE%\Favorites
Downloads      %USERPROFILE%\Downloads

Note: The Downloads folder appears as a GUID entry in the registry:

{374DE290-123F-4565-9164-39C4925E467B}
  1. Click OK to save the change.
Reverting the folder path to the default registry value

Reverting the folder path to the default registry value

  1. Restart your computer so Windows reloads the updated shell folder configuration.

After restarting, Windows will use the corrected folder path and the “Can’t move the folder because there is a folder in the same location that can’t be redirected” error should no longer appear.

Kevin ArrowsUpdated on March 15, 2026
Kevin is a certified Network Engineer
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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Kevin Arrows


Kevin Arrows is a highly experienced and knowledgeable technology specialist with over a decade of industry experience. He holds a Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS) certification and has a deep passion for staying up-to-date on the latest tech developments. Kevin has written extensively on a wide range of tech-related topics, showcasing his expertise and knowledge in areas such as software development, cybersecurity, and cloud computing. His contributions to the tech field have been widely recognized and respected by his peers, and he is highly regarded for his ability to explain complex technical concepts in a clear and concise manner.

Comments

49
    RO
    RobotCoffee Apr 5, 2019

    Thank you. I mistakenly used one drive and it did this sh*t to me. This guide really helped me out.

    Reply
    RM
    Robbie Martin Jun 28, 2019

    This works, but I had to do it twice. Once for the String called personal and another time for a string that was alphanumeric

    Reply
      DE
      Defrin Mar 23, 2020

      Yep same here. Thanks, your comment helped me. It just blows my mind how terrible one drive is. I like using it to save a few files, but the way it manages file systems and completely screws up My documents and My pictures is absolutely ridiculous.

      Reply
        RM
        Robbie Martin Mar 25, 2020

        Yes I know what you mean. I had a catastrophic failure with my Hard drive and had to reinstall everything. Once I got windows reinstalled it took me a little bit to get some important files back from Onedrive, but it did save my bacon in the end.

        Reply
          JA
          James Dec 5, 2021

          Get an SSD drive to prevent this… Also use OneDrive as a BACKUP and not as a replacement

          RM
          Robbie Martin Dec 6, 2021

          Exactly what I am/was doing @James.

    AW
    Ana Woods Mar 31, 2020

    Unfortunately it did not work for me. My problem is the same as so many people (OneDrive taking over my Pctures and Documents folders) and I also did it twice, but with no result :/

    Reply
      SW
      Shane Warren Author Apr 3, 2020

      Did you do it for all the strings or just for a particular one? also, make sure that you do it for the alphanumeric one too.

      Reply
    JN
    Jamie Naidoo Apr 1, 2020

    Hi there. I tried this method because my pc wasn’t allowing me to move my ‘pictures’ folder over to a different drive, but even after restarting it hasn’t worked. In regedit the default value was %PUBLIC%Pictures. I changed it to %USERPROFILE%Pictures as suggested above, restarted my pc and the problem was unsolved.
    Does anyone know if I have to change all the default values to %USERPROFILE% from %PUBLIC% even for folders other than my dysfunctional ‘pictures’ one?
    Any help would be much appreciated, thanks

    Reply
      SW
      Shane Warren Author Apr 3, 2020

      Do it for all of them and also the “Alphanumeric” string

      Reply
        JN
        Jamie Naidoo Apr 3, 2020

        Thanks for your help Shane, I fiddled around and found that I only needed to change the affected ‘My Pictures’ and its corresponding alphanumeric string to my preferred location (in this case D:Pictures) to fix the problem.

        Reply
          SW
          Shane Warren Author Apr 4, 2020

          Ohh, ok. Thank you for your feedback.

          JI
          jimmy May 8, 2020

          https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/064b2fa5dfefa6177ed57e518018e7338fd725279813b22bdf79bacfb096eed6.jpg Hi there. I did the same but doesn’t work for me, pls see the screen shot. Thank you.

          SW
          Shane Warren Author May 11, 2020

          You also have to do this for the “Personal” entry

    YL
    Yvan Leclerc Apr 6, 2020

    Worked A1 for me!

    Reply
    CA
    Coin Add1ct May 22, 2020

    One drive messed up my files. I have done as this post said, and further done it for every entry as the comments indicate, and I still get the same error. Been trying to fix this off and on for a couple months now. No solution I can find seems to work sadly. https://uploads.disquscdn.c…

    Reply
      SW
      Shane Warren Author May 22, 2020

      Have you also changed the corresponding alphanumeric strings?

      Reply
    SA
    Salman Ahmad May 27, 2020

    where is the alphanumeric string for pictures?

    Reply
      SW
      Shane Warren Author May 27, 2020

      Alphanumeric string is for downloads

      Reply
        SA
        Salman Ahmad May 28, 2020

        I changes all of he values but It still didn’t work and the string is named “common” pictures instead of “My” pictures etc

        Reply
          SW
          Shane Warren Author Jun 1, 2020

          Perform an SFC scan and check if it works. If it doesn’t perform a repair install of Windows.

    JW
    John Weiss Jul 22, 2020

    I removed Pictures from OneDrive. Then i had to go into registry editor, to set “ComputerHKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerUser Shell FoldersMy Pictures” path back to “%USERPROFILE%Pictures”. Now, Pictures folder is missing from %userprofile%. However, Pictures folder is visible in Quick Access. If i click Pictures in Quick Access, then i do see my pictures. The path of the folder is inside my User folder. But when i go to the user folder, Pictures folder isn’t there. If i show Hidden items, it’s still not there.

    Reply
      SW
      Shane Warren Author Jul 23, 2020

      That seems weird but you were able to fix the error message right?

      Reply
        JW
        John Weiss Jul 23, 2020

        The fix isn’t a fix if it creates a different problem.https://uploads.disquscdn.c…https://uploads.disquscdn.c…
        https://uploads.disquscdn.c…

        Reply
          SW
          Shane Warren Author Jul 26, 2020

          You are unable to sync the folder with OneDrive?

    CH
    Chris Jul 25, 2020

    Not sure if I should try this because I don’t want to mess up my computer but for some reason, there’s two “my document” folders. Should I change both to the same default or not even bother? https://uploads.disquscdn.c…

    Reply
      SW
      Shane Warren Author Jul 26, 2020

      Make a backup of your registry and then change both and check if that fixes the issue for you, if it doesn’t, you could just restore the registry.

      Reply
    SI
    Sheikh Iyad Nov 16, 2020

    What is registry key for the documents folder?

    Reply
      MZ
      Muhammad Zubyan Author Nov 16, 2020

      Here is the location of the registry key for the documents folder

      HKEY_CURRENT_USERSOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerUser Shell Folders

      Find key named “My Documents”

      Reply
        SI
        Sheikh Iyad Nov 17, 2020

        ty

        Reply
        RK
        RYAN ZAI HONG KUA Jun 9, 2021

        you’r a big saviour

        Reply
    FF
    fan fan Dec 25, 2020

    But where is the Document???? I can’t find My document there

    Reply
      MZ
      Muhammad Zubyan Author Dec 26, 2020

      (Warning: Please create a restore point before changing anything in your registry editor)1. Open Regedit again
      2. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER Software Microsoft Windows CurrentVersion Explorer User Shell Folders
      3. Right-click on empty white space and create a new “String Value” and name it “My Documents” Once the String is created double-click on it and put this value “%USERPROFILE%Documents”.
      4. Close Registry Editor and restart your PC.

      Reply
        CM
        Cait Marie Jun 7, 2021

        so if we messed up we lost everything in docs ?

        Reply
    AG
    Apeirogon Games Mar 3, 2021

    Actually, the reasont his error message is happening is likely because OneDrive is trying to sync files in those locations. If you see a little cloud icon on the folders (This happens with Documents and Pictures) then it won’t let you re-locate. To fix this, disable OneDrive and then try again before re-enabling OneDrive.

    Reply
    AN
    Anais Mar 7, 2021

    So i dont know what i did wrong? i followed all the steps perfectly but now when wantinf to move my documents folder it wont shot the location/move option anymore. someone knows what to do?

    Reply
      MZ
      Muhammad Zubyan Author Mar 8, 2021

      You have to do the same thing for the “Personal” entry as well!

      Reply
    DU
    Duffnick May 27, 2021

    I couldn’t even get OneDrive to uninstall. I had to call MS to get their help. They make it as difficult as possible so you don’t get rid of them. Once OneDrive was uninstalled, I did this change; and like the others, had to do it to the personal string, and the alpha-numeric string. I looked on a windows 10 computer that had not been corrupted by OneDrive and the only string existing that pointed to Documents was the Personal one. Installing OneDrive must create this new string that also points to Documents. Afraid to see what would happen if I deleted the alpha-numeric string altogether and left only the Personal string.

    Reply
    CM
    Cait Marie Jun 7, 2021

    I did everything it said step by step and when I tried to move my docs it worked! but went to user instead of the drive I told it to go to…. I tried to move it again and it completely wiped everything that was originally in that folder and went missing. I fixed the folder based on a reply in the comments so I can see it now but I’m confused on where I messed up….

    Reply
    MZ
    Muhammad Zubyan Author Jun 7, 2021

    Not really, this is just a registry key that’s giving directions regarding your Documents folder to your Windows. This key has nothing to do with the actual folders. The Warning is included just in case you mess up anything in your registry files as some registry files can actually hurt your computer.

    Reply
    JI
    Jimmy Nov 13, 2021

    What if I want to use OneDrive again? Does it affect?

    Reply
      MZ
      Muhammad Zubyan Author Nov 13, 2021

      Yes, OneDrive will continue to work as usual. However, I think you won’t be able to backup the files from these folders.

      Reply
    SK
    Stanley_Krute Feb 25, 2022

    Thanks SO MUCH for this article.

    I’ve been batting my head against a wall for a while when I remove OneDrive from a client’s computer and can’t reset the key user data file locations back to the user’s folder from its OneDrive subfolder.

    Homage, thx, and misc. othe salutes !!

    Reply
    PS
    pscarbor Mar 22, 2022

    Doesn’t work: In the regedit location specified only “common” locations are listed. Changing these does nothing; “Documents” folder remains stuck on OneDrive and cannot be redirected. OneDrive is more or less useless to me due to the extremely slow upload speed my ISP allows.

    Reply
    KE
    Konstantinos Kerd Evaggeliou Sep 8, 2022

    Thank you very much Kevin! This solved the problem i had with my Documents folder!

    Reply
    LA
    Lathya Sep 23, 2022

    I just did this for my pictures folder and it’s correct in the register editor, but it’s still showing up in my one drive folder. X_x I just took all the files out of the folder for now so my one drive would stop saying it’s full and put them in the video folder which I was able to disconnect from onedrive no problem.

    Reply
    TA
    Taytosama Sep 28, 2022

    thank you, my documents folder was located inside of OneDrive. I’m happy I could resolve this

    Reply
    DI
    dimenfer Mar 18, 2023

    I like OneDrive, but the way it integrates to Windows is dumb, thank you.

    Reply
    AB
    Alvin Brinson Aug 27, 2023

    Thank you! New windows install and MS tried to force onedrive on me. Uninstalled it, only to find they ensure that the system errors if you try to move the folders! Others said the fix was to uninstall Onedrive.

    Reply

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