Installing UE4 To A Different Hard Drive

From Epic Wiki


NOTE: THIS GUIDE IS FOR WINDOWS. - But with slight variations applies to linux and mac machines as well.

Overview

This is a simple guide for people who would like to move Unreal Engine 4 to a different directory (After installing it before). For example, if you were to install Unreal Engine 4 on C:/ and then later down the line you purchased another Hard Disk Drive and plug it into your PC. Now, you're running out of space on C:/ and want to move it to another directory.

Steps to move Unreal Engine to a Different HDD

BEFORE WE START. MAKE SURE THE LAUNCHER AND UNREAL ENGINE 4 EDITOR ARE NOT RUNNING.

Sidenote: The directory where the unreal engine is installed may be different depending on your launcher/engine version. It may be under C:\Program Files\Epic Games\VersionNumber or under C:\Program Files\Unreal\VersionNumber.

1) Create the folder where you want to move Unreal Engine to. In this case "D:\Unreal" is used

2) Cut all the directories under the folder where Unreal Engine is installed and paste them to your desired location.

3)Make a link for each directory you moved: For example, if your install location is "C:\Program Files\Epic Games\" and you want to link a directory named 4.8 to "D:\Unreal\4.8", you would open a command prompt (Windows Key + R, then type "cmd" , then press Enter Key) and type:

cd "C:\Program Files\Epic Games\"

mklink /j 4.8 D:\Unreal\4.8

You also need to make a link for the other Engine versions as well as the Launcher and DirectXRedist folder.

You have now successfully moved whole Unreal Engine to a different folder.

P.S. The same concept applies to linux and mac machines. The link command is just different.

Video tutorial for Windows 7

Disclaimer: This is not an EPIC GAMES tutorial. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUDqz17aaJY

On Windows 10

You may encounter various errors if you tried using the exact same syntax to use the previous commands, for example:

  • "cd" doesn't make you change directory, you may use "cd /d" instead. 
> Solution regarding this tutorial: 
Here, you do not need to use "cd" or "cd /d" anymore.
  • using "mklink" you get the following error: "The syntax of the command is incorrect." 
> Solution regarding this tutorial: 
Try using the following commands which are a bit different.

mklink /J " **Original Directory** " " **New Directory** "

You need to add quotes "" , then you'll get something like this (version number may vary):

mklink /J "D:\Program Files\Epic Games\4.9" "E:\Program Files\Epic Games\4.9"

If the junction link has been successfully created, you'll get something like this (again, version number may vary):

Junction created for D:\Program Files\Epic Games\4.9 <<===>> E:\Program Files\Epic Games\4.9


Don't forget to do this for the "DirectXRedist" as well as the "Launcher" folder and everything should work correctly.