Accidentally merged User folders
If you accidentally merged User folders, like the downloads Library with another drive or folder, here is how to unmerge folders in Windows 10 and restore them back to default location. Note: Even if you try using File History to restore it, it will not work. You will not be able to move them back to previous locations or restore the folders to previous versions. It would say that they are not available. We will take the example of the Downloads folder here.
How to unmerge Downloads folder
Open Run prompt, type ‘regedit’ and hit enter. This will launch the Registry Editor. Navigate to the following key: In the right hand pane, double-click on the multi-string value {374DE290-123F-4565-9164-39C4925E467B}. Under Value Data copy paste the following: %USERPROFILE%\Downloads Click OK and close the Registry Editor If you closely notice the multi-string values, they belong to each of the folders. You have Desktop, Favorites, Skydrive, Music Pictures and so on. So if you face the problem with any folder location, you need follow the related fix. After, you will need to restart your PC. The OS will pick up the new folder location during the startup.5
Here are the values for the other folders:
Music : {1CF1260C-4DD0-4ebb-811F-33C572699FDE}Pictures : {3ADD1653-EB32-4cb0-BBD7-DFA0ABB5ACCA}Videos : {A0953C92-50DC-43bf-BE83-3742FED03C9C}Documents : {A8CDFF1C-4878-43be-B5FD-F8091C1C60D0}Desktop : {B4BFCC3A-DB2C-424C-B029-7FE99A87C641}
Now to change the location correctly, follow these steps:
Open Windows File Explorer. In the right-hand pane, right-click the Downloads folder.Click on Properties.Switch to Location Tab, and type D:\Downloads in the location box.Click Apply and OK
This will make sure that not only your downloads folder location is restored, but also that it doesn’t appear as a drive or stay merged with another folder.
