GameCleaner · Guides
How to Move Steam Games to Another Drive (Without Re-downloading)
Your SSD is full, but you don't want to delete games or re-download 100GB over a slow connection. Good news: Steam can move games between drives, copying and verifying the files so you keep every save and never re-download. Here's how, three ways.
Method 1: Move one game (built-in, easiest)
- In Steam, right-click the game → Properties → Installed Files → Move install folder.
- Pick the target drive (Steam needs a library folder there — it offers to create one).
- Steam copies, verifies, then frees the original. Your save data and Workshop content come along.
This is the safe default for a game or two. For a dozen games it gets tedious — that's where Method 3 helps.
Method 2: Add a library on the new drive first
Go to Steam → Settings → Storage, click the drive dropdown, and Add Drive. Now that drive is a valid Steam library and any game can be moved or installed there. From the Storage screen you can select games and move them in a batch.
Method 3: Know which games to move first
Moving is only worth it for the big games you still play. The 100GB title you finished a year ago should be uninstalled, not relocated. The hard part is spotting them across a full library — Steam's Storage view doesn't rank by how long since you played.
GameCleaner scans your whole library, flags the giant games you haven't touched in months, and shows exactly how much you'd reclaim by moving vs. uninstalling — saves backed up first either way. Download it free →
Which games belong on the SSD?
- Keep on the fast SSD: games you actively play, anything with long load screens.
- Move to a slower/secondary drive: single-player games you've finished, big installs you revisit rarely.
- Uninstall: games untouched for months — reinstalling later is one click.
Out of drives to move things to? A cheap 2TB NVMe ends the juggling:
See our 2TB SSD picks →As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases — at no extra cost to you.
Common questions
Will moving a game lose my saves? No. Local saves and Steam Cloud are unaffected; Steam moves the install files only.
Is it faster than re-downloading? Almost always — a local drive-to-drive copy beats downloading 100GB, especially on capped or slow connections.
GameCleaner tells you which games to move, uninstall, or keep — and reclaims the space in a click, saves backed up first. Get it free → · See also: 7 ways to free up Steam space →