Can you set InDesign to go to external hard drive rather than C drive

[ali_4619]

Hi I don't have much space left on my C drive. Can I set InDesign to go automatically to the external hard drive rather than C drive? I am saving documents created to Creative Cloud instead of to my computer. But I understand InDesign is using my C drive for other purposes such as saving temporary files

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

So you want to save INDD files you're working on - or settings / preferences?

By default - InDesign will save, even newly created document - to the last used folder.

[Dave Creamer of IDEAS]

Just curious, how large is your C drive and what is taking up all the space? Perhaps you can move other files to an external.

I use the FolderSize utility to check for disk usage. 

https://foldersize.sourceforge.net/

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

Just curious, how large is your C drive and what is taking up all the space? Perhaps you can move other files to an external.

By @Dave Creamer of IDEAS

Or clear TEMP folder, remove thumbnails and old system updates.

Or simply buy bigger drive and clone all data.

[Randy Hagan · Accepted solution]

I'm assuming that you're already storing all your InDesign documents on an external drive already. If you're not, I'd start there before doing anything more to see if moving your document files can give you the headroom you're looking for.

Understand that this is not official Adobe support. This is just some yahoo end user offering an opinion on how to do what you say you want to do. And even he's recommending against you doing it.

InDesign preferences allow you to specify exactly where your document recovery data (a high-falutin' way of saying your recovery files) are stored. You can see how to change that to a different place than its default location in the illustration below:.

Please recognize, though, that you're digging fairly deep under the hood as you move this from your C: drive to a remote location. You want to be absolutely sure that your new location is always available to your system and it doesn't get disconnected and renamed with a different drive letter when reconnected. You're defining an absolute location for your system to store, retrieve and access these critical files. Messing with that absolute location, whether it's done by you or your system independently, is perilous.

If you really want to do this, you may want to carefully read and understand what you're doing by reading this Adobe Help page. While it addresses recovery of problematic documents, the Change the location of recovered documents section outlines how to change where those documents are stored.

If it was me, I wouldn't do this. I'd just buy a larger capacity SSD of the appropriate form factor and use a cloning utility like Clonezilla to move all your current C: drive data to that new, larger drive, then install the new drive into your system and dispense with messing around under the hood of InDesign. It's a much safer way to go.

Hope this helps, and I hope you take the safer alternative path immediately above instead of messing with InDesign to get you past your issues. It's really the better way to go.

Randy

[ali_4619]

Fantastic Randy, really appreciated. I will buy an SSD and if that doesn't work will buy a new computer. I'm sure part of the problem is the age of my computer. I've deleted temporary files, thumbnails and everything else like that just now; and was already saving most of my work to hard drive. Hopefully the SSD will work for the age of my computer otherwise I will enjoy a new one.  Many thanks. 

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

@ali_4619

Do you have SSD or HDD right now as your main / C: drive?

If HDD - you'll see colossal performance improvement. 

But don't try to save money on SSD. You HAVE to buy one with "DRAM Cache". 

If you can find, buy something from the Crucial MX500 series - at least 1TB - make sure it's MX500 and not BX, etc. 

It's a very good "compromise" between price and performance. Cheaper than more pricier Samsungs, etc. but still fast - and will outlive your computer anyway 😉 

[Dave Creamer of IDEAS]

I agree with @Robert at ID-Tasker --replacing a traditional hard drive with a SSD can make your old computer seem new (to you at least!). Older computers tend to have easily replaced drives, while new systems are soldering SSDs and RAM directly to the motherboard (to prevent upgrades, IMHO). If you still want to get a new computer, you can always turn the SSD into an external drive by buying a case. Keep the old drive to put back in if you want to sell or pass on the old system.