Internet Explorer – Change Default Download Folder

In this guide I will show you how to change the default download folder in internet explorer. This is very easy to do and helpful when you want files to download to somewhere else than your downloads folder. Sometimes I want to have quick access to files for a project that I am working on so I will have them go to my desktop by default. The good thing is you can change this as often as you would like.

The steps for changing the download folder are easy. We will start by clicking the gear icon in the top right corner. Then we will select View downloads. You could also use the shortcut of Ctrl + J.

IE Change Download Folder - Gear Icon - View Downloads

Next, on the bottom left we will click on the Options button. To be honest, it looks more like and link than a button.

IE Change Download Folder - Download Options Button

Now we have the option to change the Default download location. Click the Browse button to get the file explorer window open where you will select the default location.

IE Change Download Folder  - Download Options Browse

With the file explorer window open, navigate to the folder that you would like for your downloads to go to by default. You can see that I chose the Desktop folder by clicking on it on the left hand side. Once happy with your selection, click the Select Folder button on the bottom right to finalize your change.

IE Change Download Folder  - Selecting Desktop Folder

As you can see it was easy to change the default download folder in internet explorer. I tend to change this from project to project to make processing data easier. Where do you like to save your files by default? Drop a comment below and let us know!

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