Personal registry key – Redirect My documents folder

We can redirect My documents location to some other folder by editing the registry key Personal under the following node in registry database.

HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerUser Shell Folders

The default value of the above registry key would be %userprofile%My Documents. In Windows XP, it is by default located in C:Documents and SettingsLoginudMy Documents. In Windows Vista and Windows 7 My Documents folder would be at C:UsersLoginidMy Documents.

After editing the above registry you can open My documents folder and check that it points to the new location. Logoff is not required for the changes to take effect.

This works on all the windows versions – XP, Vista, Windows 7, Server 2003 and Server 2008 editions.