Originally published at: Solved: Folder Moving Error - Can't Redirect Folder in Same Location
Some users are getting the “Can’t move the folder because there is a folder in the same location that can’t be redirected” error when they try to change the location of a personal folder the second time in Windows. This is not specific to a certain Windows version since it’s reported on Windows 7, Windows 8.1…
I like OneDrive, but the way it integrates to Windows is dumb, thank you.
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.
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.
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
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 
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.
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.
This works, but I had to do it twice. Once for the String called personal and another time for a string that was alphanumeric
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.
Thank you very much Kevin! This solved the problem i had with my Documents folder!
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.
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 !!
Yes, OneDrive will continue to work as usual. However, I think you won’t be able to backup the files from these folders.
so if we messed up we lost everything in docs ?
You have to do the same thing for the “Personal” entry as well!
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?
you’r a big saviour
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.
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.