I use a directory I made on an external hard drive. Now, whenever you download a file using either browser, the file will be downloaded by default to the drive and folder you selected.

Close the Settings dialog by clicking the red “X” in the upper left-hand corner, and return to using Safari as normal.

Now, you can either click “Ask for each download,” which means Safari will prompt you for a save location each time you download a file, or you can click the “Other…” option, which will open a file browser you can use to select a new location you where you want Safari to save downloaded files to by default.

Click the pull-down menu to the right of the option

Look for the “File download location” option.

Click the “General” tab in the Preferences window that appears.

Open the Safari browser on your Mac and go to Safari’s Settings by choosing “Preferences…” from the Safari menu.

How to Change the Default Download Folder Location in Safari

Exit Settings by closing the tab, and return to using Chrome as normal.

Select the new location you where you want Chrome to save downloaded files to by default.

Click on the “Change…” button found to the right of the “Download location:” field

Again, scroll down a bit until you see the “Downloads” section.

Scroll down until you see the “Show advanced settings…” link. Click the link.

Open the Chrome browser on your Mac and go to Chrome’s Settings, either by choosing “Preferences…” from the Chrome menu or by entering “chrome://settings/” in the address bar.

How to Change the Default Download Folder Location in Chrome

However, due to disk space issues, or just by personal preference, you may wish to tell your browser to save your download files in another location. When using the Chrome or Safari browser to download files to your Mac, they by default go to the “Downloads” folder, which can be found in your user Home directory.

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