
Step 3: This opens the download options screen which allows you to set a new default download location and configure download notifications. Step 2: When the download window opens, select the options link at the bottom left of the screen. Alternatively, use the shortcut Ctrl-J to open Downloads directly. Step 1: Open Internet Explorer, click on the menu icon, and select View Downloads from the context menu that opens. To change the file save location of Microsoft Internet Explorer, do the following. The browser is however available on Windows 10 as well. Internet Explorer is the default system browser on all supported versions of Windows with the exception of Windows 10 where it has been replaced by Microsoft Edge. The method applies to all versions of Internet Explorer that are maintained by Microsoft. Changing the location of Internet Explorer's Download folder USERPROFILE is a variable that refers to the logged in user's profile directory on the Windows machine, e.g. The default download location that Internet Explorer and Microsoft Edge use to save files downloaded from the Internet to the local system is %USERPROFILE%\Downloads. The options to do so are somewhat hidden though, hence this guide. You may change the save location for downloads both in Internet Explorer and Microsoft Edge.

If you ever tried to download a Windows ISO image or another file that is at least several Gigabytes in size, you know that space can be an issue in these cases.


This can be the case if the main partition of the computer is rather small size-wise.

While convenient, the downloads folder may not always be the best location for downloads. The location does not change across devices, so that Windows users know where to look when it comes to locating downloaded files on Windows machines.
