{"id":19866,"date":"2020-11-14T03:52:53","date_gmt":"2020-11-14T03:52:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/198.58.113.91\/blog\/?p=19866"},"modified":"2023-02-22T18:18:57","modified_gmt":"2023-02-22T12:48:57","slug":"move-windows-fax-scan-documents-folder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/move-windows-fax-scan-documents-folder\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Change Windows Fax and Scan Default Save Location"},"content":{"rendered":"

Windows Fax and Scan stores the scanned images and fax documents in the Scanned Documents<\/code> folder located under your Documents folder. If the Documents folder is relocated, the Windows Fax and Scan follows the Documents folder.<\/p>\n

If you want to move the Scanned Documents folder to a different directory or drive without relocating the Documents folder, here are a couple of options for you.<\/p>\n

How to Move the Scanned Documents Folder in Windows<\/h2>\n

Option 1: Redirect the folder using a symbolic link<\/h3>\n

A symbolic link, also known as a soft link, is a special kind of file that points to another file or folder, much like a shortcut in Windows. By creating a directory symbolic link to your Scanned Documents folder on a different path or drive, you can make Windows Fax and Scan save scanned images and faxes to the target path automatically.<\/p>\n

To create a symbolic link to Scanned Documents, follow these steps:<\/p>\n

(Let’s say you want to relocate the Scanned Documents folder to D:\\Scanned Documents<\/strong>.)<\/em><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Open your Documents folder.<\/li>\n
  2. Move<\/strong> the Scanned Documents folder to the desired path — e.g., D:\\Scanned Documents<\/code><\/li>\n
  3. Open an elevated or admin Command Prompt<\/a> window and type the following command:\n
    mklink \/d \"C:\\Users\\%username%\\Documents\\Scanned Documents\" \"D:\\Scanned Documents\"<\/pre>\n
    \"scanned<\/p>\n
    You’ll see the message symbolic link created for c:\\Users\\[username]\\Documents\\Scanned Documents <<===>> D:\\Scanned Documents<\/strong><\/em>.<\/div>\n
    \"warningIf you see the error message Cannot create a file when that file already exists<\/strong>\u00a0in the output, it means you haven’t moved the Scanned Documents folder from the default location. You need to move the folder to your desired location beforehand.<\/em><\/p>\n
    After running the command successfully, when you open the Documents folder, you’ll see a special shortcut file that looks like a folder shortcut with the shortcut overlay.<\/div>\n
    \"scanned<\/p>\n
    The shortcut properties dialog shows the target folder, but the options would be grayed out.<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
    From now on, when an application tries to save to C:\\Users\\%username%\\Documents\\Scanned Documents<\/code> folder, the files will actually be saved to D:\\Scanned Documents<\/code> automatically. It’s nothing but a redirection method.<\/p>\n
    \n
    How to revert to the original location<\/h4>\n
    To reverse the above changes to restore the original Scanned Documents<\/code> path, delete the Scanned Documents<\/code> symbolic link from your Documents folder. Then, create or move your Scanned Documents<\/code> folder into your Documents folder.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
    Editor’s note:<\/strong> This article assumes you haven’t relocated your Documents folder to OneDrive. If that’s the case, the Scanned Documents folder would be located here:<\/p>\n
    C:\\Users\\%username%\\OneDrive\\Documents\\Scanned Documents<\/pre>\n
    You’ll need to use the appropriate path when creating the symbolic link. If OneDrive doesn’t let you create a symbolic link in the above location, you may try the alternate method (“Option 2”) below.<\/p>\n
    \n
    Option 2: Temporarily change the Documents shell folder path<\/h3>\n
    Upon startup, the Windows Fax and Scan program reads the Documents folder path and remembers it until you close the program. So, by temporarily changing the Documents shell folder path in the registry just before launching Windows Fax and Scan, you can make WFS save files to the custom location.<\/p>\n
    After Windows Fax and Scan loads, you can restore the original path for the Documents folder. All these can be done using a script.<\/p>\n