How to change the default folder used for documents scanned with Windows Fax and Scan?
- Backup all the scanned files you need to keep
- Open the automatic Scanned Documents folder and click on the address bar to copy its full location. It should look like
C:\Users\BillGates\Documents\Scanned Documents
- Go back to the
Documents
folder and deleteScanned Documents
- Open a command prompt window. On Windows 8.1, you can do this by using the shortcut keys ⊞ (Windows key) + S and typing cmd. On Windows 7 and Windows 10, type cmd in the start menu search bar
Enter the following command and press enter, where
C:\scans
is the directory you want to be used to save new scanned files:mklink /d "C:\Users\BillGates\Documents\Scanned Documents" C:\scans
This creates a linked folder (symlink, not a shortcut). It acts like a normal folder but is actually located in a different place. When the scan software saves into its default location, the files will actually be saved into C:\scans
.
I had the same problem and found this thread. Creating a hard link is not the best solution for me, so I decided to search in the registry for a string and found these entries:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Photo Acquisition\DestinationMru
"MruEntry0"
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Photo Acquisition\Scanner
"FilenameTemplate"
"VideoFilenameTemplate"
"RootDirectory"
I changed the value of all 4 keys and it worked! It was something like E:\Scans
before and R:\M_SCANS
after.
If your default directory is somewhere in your documents folder there might be a name like %blahblah%
, which is where your variable userpath points to.
I've tested that under Windows 7 64-bit.