(PC) Receiving error 0x80070002 when attempting to switch default app install location

Ian Jee · Dec 1, 2021

Hello!

I am a Windows 10 / Game Pass user who would prefer to install certain larger apps and games on an external drive. However whenever I attempt to switch the default drive I get the following error:

"We couldn't set your default save location.

The operation did not complete successfully. Try again in a bit.

The error code is 0x80070002, in case you need it."

This is an external SSD drive with plenty of space remaining formatted to exFAT. Please let me know what other information would be useful.

Thanks so much for your help!

:)

Ian Jee

Ah gotcha, thanks so much for this information! This should really be messaged in the error somewhere

XBF-JoannaDark

Hi Ian Jee,

Thanks for reaching out to the Xbox forums! I am sorry to hear that you are struggling with installing Game Pass games for PC on your external SSD. I am more than happy to help and provide a solution to resolve the problem hopefully. If you want to install Game Pass games to an external hard drive, they must be formatted as NTFS. Here is a link that shows you how to format your drive How to format a USB flash drive or external storage device to NTFS on Windows | Xbox Support.

I hope these suggestions help! If this answers your question, please mark the thread as “Answered.”

David Wirsching

Thanks for replying The Xbox app on PC installs games to the C: drive by default.
Although you can change the default installation location in the app's settings, some users have also told me that the app still returns to the C: drive by default. This could be a bug or a problem with the app.

Here is a link to change location:
https://support.xbox.com/help/games-apps/game-setup-and-play/game-installation-issues-on-PC

XBF - Dom

Hello Ivan_Ro5991.

Thank you for reaching out to us about this issue!

Are you attempting to install the games though the Xbox App or the Microsoft Store app? Also, are you receiving any error codes when attempting to install? That would beneficial for us when trying to investigate the issue.

[Let us know if this answered your question by pressing "Yes" below]

Zeroyazi

Tried all of the above before posting the issue and again after seeing your post. No change in behavior. I've seen that exact message in another issue related to this error and it didn't fix it for them either.

Packages and services all seem fine. It appears related to the folders/non-folders or how the apps are pointing to the drives.

(PC) Receiving error 0x80070002 when attempting to switch default app install location