Tutorials/Custom Minecraft directory

To play Minecraft from a custom directory, you can use these simple steps.

If you have anything important in your Minecraft folder, it is strongly recommended you make a backup before moving it!

Windows 10[]

Method A

Note: This doesn't work when using a launcher installed via the Microsoft App Store

Go to the folder where you installed Minecraft.
Shift right click in a blank space and press "Open Command Window Here."
Get the Directory Path of where you want to store the game.
In the Command Prompt window, type in: echo java -jar Minecraft.exe --workDir=" . Do not press enter yet.
In the file browser, find the folder you want Minecraft to be installed in to.
Click and drag the folder to the open command prompt window. It should fill in the path automatically.
Finish typing " > run.bat and press enter.
In the folder, run the "run.bat" file.

Method B

Use this method if you've installed Minecraft via the Microsoft App Store.

Create a folder in the location you want Minecraft moved to. We will call this the 'destination folder', but you can name it whatever you want.
Open the original .minecraft folder (By default, you can find this by going to %appdata%, then opening roaming\.Minecraft)
Copy all contents of the original .minecraft folder and paste them into the destination folder
Delete the original .minecraft folder
In the search bar, find Command Prompt, right click and open as administrator
Paste cd %appdata% and click enter. The command prompt should acknowledge the appdata\roaming folder
Paste mklink /D ".minecraft" "<destination folder>" Replace <destination folder> with the address of the destination folder. For example, if you're moving Minecraft to "E:\MyMinecraft", the command would be mklink /D ".minecraft" "E:\MyMinecraft"
Press enter. Command prompt should say "symbolic linked created for .minecraft"
If command prompt says "cannot create file when that file already exists", it is because you didn't delete the original .minecraft folder. Delete it and run the command again

Right click the Minecraft shortcut on your desktop and select "Properties".
If you do not have a shortcut, navigate to the folder where you installed Minecraft, right click MinecraftLauncher.exe, and click "Create Shortcut".
There should be a line labeled Target. After the file path, add a space and type: --workDir DIR_PATH
Replace "DIR_PATH" with the directory you want the game to use.
Minecraft will now use that directory as long as you launch it from that shortcut.