Can I change the location where local files are stored?

[Anonymous]

Hey Fusion 360 community,

I am running Fusion 360 on a PC that has a small 100 GB SSD drive as C:, and a much larger, slower drive D:.  I'd like to change the local Fusion 360 storage location from "C:\Users\owner\AppData\Local\Autodesk\Autodesk Fusion 360" to a folder on my 😧 drive.  

Is this possible?  I can't seem to find any settings allowing me to change this.  It would be very helpful!

Thanks,

Doug

[Phil.E · Accepted solution]

Hi,

Currently it is not possible to change this location. Perhaps some other users will chime in here if they also want to change this. An idea station request would be the next step.

Fusion does not keep all of your data locally. There is a time limit defined by Preferences > Offline Cache time period. So if you don't need the offline cache, you could reduce the time that designs hang out locally.

Are you just trying to avoid a full C: drive, or just desire to keep your data in a 😧 drive?

Thanks,

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the response. I'm actually trying to do both - reduce C: drive usage and store future data on D:. I will make a feature request. Again, thanks. Doug

[Anonymous]

Access to and control over data locally is extremely important to long term adoption of Fusion as our CAD platform of choice.  We are content to entertain it for now as the cost effectiveness of the tool is hard to beat, but understand we will not be bound to continuing our use no matter how much data is generated with it.  We realize this is AutoDesk's marketing plan, but it is a 80's strategy that does not have the same effect in '16.

Please escalate this critical stakeholder need up the chain accordingly.  Unless a solution is implemented by the end of Q2 next year we (and many others I suspect) will be left with no choice but to migrate away from Fusion.  Not being able to backup and secure our intellectual property locally is an intolerable situation.

Sincerely, John

[Anonymous]

I would also like more control over installation and files. I have a small SSD for Drive C intended only for the operating system and don't want to install extras. Not only is space limited, but I don't want it accessed so much or slowing down boot time.

[Inspections_JCH]

Has this been resolved? I also have a SSD and wish to reduce disk writes and store my data on my much larger D driver.

[Anonymous]

Hey!

I have the same problem using a smaller SSD as my boot drive; I do not want Autodesk Fusion to use this drive for caching the rather large project files.

Since there seems to be no option available in Fusion 360, I came up with a workaround:

Simply put the folder on another drive and create a symbolic link at the old location.

I am using Windows 10 and there is a command called "mklink" to do so.

Example:

1. Close Autodesk Fusion 360
2. Move the folder "C:\Users\[YourNameHere]\AppData\Local\Autodesk" to "D:\AutdeskCache"
3. After the folder has been moved (the directory must not exist anymore), create the link by opening a command prompt with elevated privileges:
   • push "Start"
   • type "cmd" and right click "Command Prompt", then choose "Run as administrator"
   • create symbolic link:
     

     mklink /D C:\Users\[YourNameHere]\AppData\Local\Autodesk D:\AutdeskCache

4. Done!

You can choose any folder you want and move it that way. There are similar options available on most other operating systems. Just do a quick search for "symbolic link" and you will find a way to do it.

Cheers

Daniel

[Inspections_JCH]

Workaround? This is a strong indication that the primary program (in this
case Fusion 360) is missing some functionality.

[Anonymous]

Same scenario and same issue.  Small SSD C: drive large 3tb storage drive.

Pity they can’t take the time to resolve it.  In the scheme of things I doubt it is a huge programming issue to make it happen.

[Phil.E]

Have you tried the method shown by @Anonymous?

[Anonymous]

I'm looking into that now.  Have others also done this and found it successful?

[Anonymous]

I did it. Moved from ssd to hdd. Works well so far. Slower, of course, but only when starting f360. Thanks!

[jperkins1MXXNE]

I'm trying to move it to a large 3gb second drive and use a directory junction to link back to the original location: mklink /J "c:\all users\Autodesk\CDX\Symlinks" "T:\Autodesk-CDX\Symlinks"

My research on mklink would indicate the junction is a stronger connection but I'm not sure if that will work as it views a junction as a hard link to the other location and might still display the space usage.

[janis.bremanis2]

While the workaround seems to work, I'm pretty sure there should be a setting to change it either during installation or in the program. From my experience it should not take that much work to add such a feature.

[contato4YNXE]

I tried what @Anonymous suggested, and it worked perfectly. Just a little bit slower to open, but I didn't notice any difference while working.

[ben_kruckJER9P]

@Anonymous After creating the link to the different drive I'm now no longer able to open the program.

What am I missing? 🤔

[g-andresen]

Hi,

take a look at the tools by Service Utilities 

Repair / Uninstall

Günther

[ben_kruckJER9P]

@g-andresen Thanks for your help. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get to the tools, even manually.

Does the the global=false read into anything?

[ben_kruckJER9P]

@g-andresen You know what, there's a way to manually save files locally through the 'File' drop down menu in Fusion 360 and I think that solves the problem. So, I'm all good

[g-andresen]

Hi,

File > Export  >  select file type and location > ok

günther