If you copy your library first, though, simply follow these steps to add that folder as the library. Great, our new hard drive or SSD is set as our default Steam. If you installed Steam to a custom location but you forget this location, you can find this folder by opening File Explorer, highlighting This PC, typing 'steam' in Search box, and pressing Enter. You can also select your previous location should you wish to, during the installation of any game. It's handy to make sure you've done this first if you're copying an existing library as it will create the necessary destination on the drive for you to dump all the files in. During the installation of Steam, you have the option to install Steam to a location other than the default. Try to set your Steam download region to some other location far away. Exit Steam, delete the two folders appcache and depotcache in your Steam install folder. Stop the download, uninstall, and reinstall the game (clear manifest caches). It will detect that the games are already there and just reinstall them. Check the Steam download region under Settings->Downloads. Find your external drive in the drop-down box. If you want to add them onto the main HDD, just drag the Folder into the Steam -> Common folder, go back to the Steam Library on your client, and push Install.Click on downloads in the left-hand pane.Open the Steam menu in the top left corner.The key is to tell Steam where it needs to store your games, so it can install them in the right place and knows where to find them when you want to play.

This process is important whether you're copying an existing Steam library to an external drive or setting up a brand-new one from scratch to download all your games.

Steam game install location