Specify the Location of Folders in a User Profile

  • Article

Applies To: Windows Server 2008

You can use Group Policy to specify another location (in other words, "redirect" the location) for folders within user profiles. You can redirect folders either to one location for everyone or to various locations based on the security group membership of users. You can also configure additional settings for the redirected folder. The settings you can configure include whether to grant exclusive user rights to the folder, move the contents of the folder to the new location, apply redirection policy to earlier Windows operating systems, or specify system behavior if the policy is removed.

To specify the location of folders in a user profile

  1. In the Group Policy Management Console (GPMC) tree, right-click the Group Policy object (GPO) that is linked to the site, domain, or organizational unit that contains the users whose user profile folders you want to redirect, and then click Edit.

  2. In the Group Policy Management Editor window, right-click the user profile folder you want to redirect. The path to the user profile folder is User Configuration\Policies\Windows Settings\Folder Redirection\UserProfileFolderName

  3. In the Target tab, under Settings, choose one of the following settings, follow the steps for that setting, and then click OK:

    Basic—Redirect everyone's folder to the same location

    1. Under Target folder location, select a location.

    2. If you want to redirect the folder to a specific location, select Create a folder for each user under the root path or Redirect to the following location, and then click Browse to specify a location.

    3. If you want to specify additional redirection settings for the folder, click the Settings tab to configure any of the following settings, and then click OK:

    • Grant the user exclusive rights to the folder (selected by default).

    • Move the contents of the folder to the new location (selected by default).

    • Apply redirection policy from Windows Vista to earlier Windows operating systems.

    • Specify policy removal settings (Leave the folder in the new location when policy is removed is selected by default).

    Advanced—Specify locations for various user groups

    1. Under Security Group Membership, click Add.

    2. Under Security Group Membership, click Browse to find the security group.

    3. Under Target folder location, select a location.

    4. If you want to redirect the folder to a specific location, select Create a folder for each user under the root path or Redirect to the following location, and then click Browse to specify a location.

    5. If you want to specify additional redirection settings for the folder, click the Settings tab to configure any of the following settings, and then click OK:

    • Grant the user exclusive rights to [FolderName] (selected by default).

    • Move the contents of [FolderName] to the new location (selected by default).

    • Also apply redirection policy to Windows 2000, Windows 2000 Server, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003 operating systems.

    • Specify Policy Removal settings (Leave the folder in the new location when policy is removed is selected by default).

    Follow the documents folder

    This option is available only for the Music, Pictures, and Videos folders. This selection will follow any settings you make for the Documents folder, and resolves any issues related to naming and folder structure differences between Windows Vista and earlier Windows operating systems. If you choose this option, you will not be able to configure any additional redirection options or policy removal options for these folders and settings will be inherited from the Documents folder.

    Not configured

    This is the default setting. No changes will be made to the current location of this folder.

Additional considerations

  • To complete this procedure, you must be logged on as a member of the Domain Administrators security group, the Enterprise Administrators security group, or the Group Policy Creator Owners security group.

  • For more information about settings and configuration options for Folder Redirection, see Folder Redirection Overview.

  • You can also use the Group Policy Management Console to configure the following Folder Redirection policy settings:

    • Use localized subfolder names when redirecting Start and My Documents—This policy is located in the following paths: Computer Configuration\Policies\Administrative Templates\System\Folder Redirection, or User Configuration\Policies\Administrative Templates\System\Folder Redirection.

    • Do not automatically make redirected folders available offline—This policy is located in the following path: User Configuration\Policies\Administrative Templates\System\Folder Redirection.

  • For more information about User Profiles and Folder Redirection, see https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=66003.

  • For information about using DFS Replication to replicate roaming user profiles, see Microsoft’s Support Statement Around Replicated User Profile Data.