changing default download path/drive

Question

I just want to make new files/games/whatever to another drive I have formatted in Linux to use for my Steam games and other downloaded items. I try to add this drive and I am told that drive must be empty in order to be used. The only file that seems to be in the partitioned section is a "lost+found" file...which I am not permitted to remove. Why does Linux make file creation/manipulation so difficult? (<---obviously frustrated ignorance talking) Any help would be appreciated. I am using Ubuntu 20.04 and trying to use another drive to download to. As asked...I edited the original post to include the version and this:

Filesystem Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on udev 16G 0 16G 0% /dev tmpfs 3.2G 2.6M 3.2G 1% /run /dev/nvme0n1p5 317G 18G 283G 6% / tmpfs 16G 59M 16G 1% /dev/shm tmpfs 5.0M 4.0K 5.0M 1% /run/lock tmpfs 16G 0 16G 0% /sys/fs/cgroup /dev/loop1 56M 56M 0 100% /snap/core18/2074 /dev/loop2 62M 62M 0 100% /snap/core20/1026 /dev/loop3 244M 244M 0 100% /snap/gnome-3-38-2004/39 /dev/loop4 62M 62M 0 100% /snap/core20/1081 /dev/sdc1 229G 61M 217G 1% /mnt/21d5002c-d1dc-4635-aad4-871cd04aa4ac /dev/loop5 242M 242M 0 100% /snap/gnome-3-38-2004/70 /dev/loop0 56M 56M 0 100% /snap/core18/2128 /dev/loop6 102M 102M 0 100% /snap/mc-installer/568 /dev/nvme0n1p2 96M 31M 66M 32% /boot/efi /dev/loop8 66M 66M 0 100% /snap/gtk-common-themes/1515 /dev/loop7 102M 102M 0 100% /snap/mc-installer/569 /dev/loop9 51M 51M 0 100% /snap/snap-store/547 /dev/loop11 33M 33M 0 100% /snap/snapd/12883 /dev/loop10 165M 165M 0 100% /snap/gnome-3-28-1804/161 /dev/loop12 33M 33M 0 100% /snap/snapd/12704 /dev/loop13 219M 219M 0 100% /snap/gnome-3-34-1804/72 /dev/loop14 52M 52M 0 100% /snap/snap-store/518 /dev/loop15 163M 163M 0 100% /snap/gnome-3-28-1804/145 /dev/loop16 219M 219M 0 100% /snap/gnome-3-34-1804/66 /dev/loop17 65M 65M 0 100% /snap/gtk-common-themes/1514 tmpfs 3.2G 20K 3.2G 1% /run/user/125 tmpfs 3.2G 40K 3.2G 1% /run/user/1000

Hope this helps. The drive I am trying to use is /dev/sdc

Answer 1

The easiest option to change your default download directory would be to delete your current Downloads folder and then put a symbolic link in place that redirects to your new drive.

Procedure with GUI

With the file manager, proceed as following:

1. Delete "Downloads"
2. Create a symbolic link named "Downloads", that links to your other drive.

Specific instructions:

1. Open Files in your home folder
2. Open another Files window in the folder where your new Downloads folder is present.
3. Drag the Downloads folder in your second pane (maybe it has a different name) to the first pane while holding Ctrl+Shift. Release the mouse button: that creates a symbolic link (you can tell by the arrow over the icon) named like the folder you are linking to.
4. If needed (i.e. your original folder has another name), rename the link to "Downloads".

Because of Step 1, your new Downloads link will not have a special status: you can tell because the folder icon does not contain an extra symbol (a downward arrow in case of Downloads). So you need to restore that editing a configuration file. That would not have been necessary if you would have done the operation through terminal commands.

1. Make sure "Show hidden files" is on in Files
2. Find the file "user-dirs.dirs". It will be in the hidden .config folder in your home directory
3. Open the file with a text editor and make sure there is a line for the Downloads folder reading like: XDG_DOWNLOAD_DIR="$HOME/Downloads"
4. Save the file and close the editor.