# What Happens When I Change Directory of Source Files (or Files to Be Backed Up)? **URL:** \ **Category:** General Topics\ **Created:** [April 6, 2026, 3:19am UTC](https://kopia.discourse.group/t/what-happens-when-i-change-directory-of-source-files-or-files-to-be-backed-up/8848 "2026-04-06T03:19:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![darkarn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f8ce5/32.png) [@darkarn](https://kopia.discourse.group/u/darkarn)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2026, 3:19am UTC](https://kopia.discourse.group/t/what-happens-when-i-change-directory-of-source-files-or-files-to-be-backed-up/8848/1 "2026-04-06T03:19:58Z")
Hi, I am wondering how will Kopia handle such changes. For example, I have a snapshot backing up A:\Photos. Due to say, getting a newer and bigger hard drive, the files are now on F:\Photos and A:\Photos no longer exists Is there a way to change the snapshot to back up the new directory? Thanks ---
**Author:** ![budy](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/kopia.discourse.group/budy/32/38_2.png) [@budy](https://kopia.discourse.group/u/budy)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2026, 10:11am UTC](https://kopia.discourse.group/t/what-happens-when-i-change-directory-of-source-files-or-files-to-be-backed-up/8848/2 "2026-04-06T10:11:26Z")
You can just create a new snapshot from F:\Photos and the worst what could happen is, that Kopia locally processes all files again only to know that none of the chunks need to be uploaded to the repo. I also do think, that you can then move all old snaphots from A: to F: to also save the history (snapshot metadata, actually) and have the history available for the F: target. ---
**Author:** ![darkarn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f8ce5/32.png) [@darkarn](https://kopia.discourse.group/u/darkarn)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2026, 1:31am UTC](https://kopia.discourse.group/t/what-happens-when-i-change-directory-of-source-files-or-files-to-be-backed-up/8848/3 "2026-04-08T01:31:22Z")
How does the moving of the old snapshots from A: to F: work since the snapshots are still on the same repo and location, while it is only the files to be backed up being moved from A: to F:? Is it only doable via CLI? ---
**Author:** ![kapitainsky](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/kopia.discourse.group/kapitainsky/32/535_2.png) [@kapitainsky](https://kopia.discourse.group/u/kapitainsky)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2026, 4:29am UTC](https://kopia.discourse.group/t/what-happens-when-i-change-directory-of-source-files-or-files-to-be-backed-up/8848/4 "2026-04-08T04:29:50Z")
Kopia deduplicates already stored content regardless of its source location. ---
**Author:** ![darkarn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f8ce5/32.png) [@darkarn](https://kopia.discourse.group/u/darkarn)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2026, 6:34am UTC](https://kopia.discourse.group/t/what-happens-when-i-change-directory-of-source-files-or-files-to-be-backed-up/8848/5 "2026-04-08T06:34:16Z")
I see but will this mean I still have two or more snapshots for the same set of data, just that I need to ignore the old snapshot that is pointing to the old directory? ---
**Author:** ![kapitainsky](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/kopia.discourse.group/kapitainsky/32/535_2.png) [@kapitainsky](https://kopia.discourse.group/u/kapitainsky)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2026, 12:31pm UTC](https://kopia.discourse.group/t/what-happens-when-i-change-directory-of-source-files-or-files-to-be-backed-up/8848/6 "2026-04-08T12:31:28Z")
> [@darkarn](#): > > I see but will this mean I still have two or more snapshots for the same set of data, Yes - but they do not occupy any extra space (deduplication). > [@darkarn](#): > > just that I need to ignore the old snapshot that is pointing to the old directory? Up to you entirely. You can delete them, you can keep them. ---
**Author:** ![darkarn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f8ce5/32.png) [@darkarn](https://kopia.discourse.group/u/darkarn)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2026, 2:22am UTC](https://kopia.discourse.group/t/what-happens-when-i-change-directory-of-source-files-or-files-to-be-backed-up/8848/7 "2026-04-09T02:22:51Z")
I see, I just didn’t want the interface to be cluttered by the snapshots. Or rather, I will want to be able to organise them so that I won’t accidentally run the legacy ones etc Is there a way to make them more organised especially in the GUI?