Unable to change game installation directory from EA desktop app

Product: EA Desktop
Platform:PC
Error Report ID (learn how to create an Error Report ID in the sticky post) 3df80038-1ac3-43f2-b3c3-423ba61274c4
Which client functionality are you experiencing this bug with? Download Game
When did this happen? (dd.mm.yy hh:mm) 09.03.21 19:00, but i have had this issue for months and was unable to use this app because of this problem
Summarize your bug after installing ea desktop app I am unable to change the game installation directory to another drive by going into settings->downloads. Also if i select a game to download and try to change the game installation directory from the game download menu, same thing happens, I am unable to select a new download directory and just get a blank popup.
How often does the bug occur? Every time (100%)
Steps: How can we find the bug ourselves? either, within the ea desktop app go to settings->downloads and select "edit" on the download directory to try to change it.. another way to reproduce it is to select a game to download, within the popup there is an option to select game install directory. If you try to select a new directory to install this game into, you just get a blank popup.
What happens when the bug occurs? instead of getting a popup to select a new drive directory so you can install/download new games into, you get a blank popup instead.
What do you expect to see? I expect to be able to select a different drive and/or directory to be able to install my games into.

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after installing ea desktop app I am unable to change the game installation directory to another drive by going into settings->downloads. Also if i select a game to download and try to change the game installation directory from the game download menu, same thing happens, I am unable to select a new download/installation directory and just get a blank popup. I should be able to select a new drive and/or folder to install my games into. I keep my apps and games on a different drive than C drive so I have a 2nd, larger drive to which I install my games into (ex. D:/games/)

bug

mac

Kerad2
4 years ago
@Jytix I actually found a temp solution to installing games on a different drive from ea desktop.. so I keep my games in D:\Games\ I found that if you select to change game install directory and you get the blank screen, you can still manually type in the path you want.. although for some reason it only allows you to include a single folder hierarchy but it's better than nothing. so if you try to install battlefield 5 and you go to change directory and lets say you want to install in E drive and Games folder, you would manually type in E:\Games Afterwards if you click select folder it will change the path of install to E:\Games\Battlefield V
Give it a try.. also it will not work if you try for example E:\Games\EA Games\ as it does not like going more than one folder up.. good luck

163 Replies

ErgoProxyKilla
4 years ago
@Kerad2 I'm getting the exact same issue. Hope this gets fixed specially with EA Play coming to GamePass for PC.
Jytix
4 years ago
@Kerad2Yep. Trying to install Battlefield 5 and can't choose an install path. Just defaulting to C (Like the app itself did)
Unfortunately, my C drive is a 80GB OS-only partition, so I can't install anything there.
Seems par for the course though from EA. I honestly can't remember the last time I managed to play an EA game without having to spend 3+ hours on forums trying to make it work. It's like they don't have a single person working for them that cares about user experience.

Edit: And Origin doesn't recognise that I've linked to my Gamepass account, so I can't use that as a workaround to install EA Play/Gamepass titles. I'm starting to suspect that the EA Desktop app is the reason that the EA Play launch on Gamepass was delayed.
Kerad2
4 years ago
@Jytix I actually found a temp solution to installing games on a different drive from ea desktop.. so I keep my games in D:\Games\ I found that if you select to change game install directory and you get the blank screen, you can still manually type in the path you want.. although for some reason it only allows you to include a single folder hierarchy but it's better than nothing. so if you try to install battlefield 5 and you go to change directory and lets say you want to install in E drive and Games folder, you would manually type in E:\Games Afterwards if you click select folder it will change the path of install to E:\Games\Battlefield V
Give it a try.. also it will not work if you try for example E:\Games\EA Games\ as it does not like going more than one folder up.. good luck
ErgoProxyKilla
4 years ago
@Kerad2 Funnily enough I found the same work around a couple of hours ago trying stuff on that blank window. You just need to make sure the folder exists already, then you can just type it in.
Jytix
4 years ago
@Kerad2 That worked for me, thanks. I'd tried it earlier, but I seem to have gotten too accustomed to typing paths in unix terminals, cause I was trying to use forward-slashes lol.
cuph20980600
4 years ago
Exact same problem here. Exact same workaround. Can't imagine that this would be fun for somebody not able to research the issue or have the simple intuition to try to type in the address for the other drive.
Krenias
4 years ago
Product: EA Desktop
Platform:PC
Error Report ID (learn how to create an Error Report ID in the sticky post)
Which client functionality are you experiencing this bug with? Other (Please Describe)
Please describe Unable to change install directory and therefore can't download any games
When did this happen? (dd.mm.yy hh:mm) Since install of EA Desktop today, 3/18/2021 6PM Central time
Summarize your bug (Windows 10 Pro) When I select a game to download and try to change the install location of the game, the File Explorer windows remains blank white with nothing other than to hit X, manually type the folder, Select Folder, or Cancel. Going into the actual EA Desktop settings and changing the install location from there brings me to the same problem.
How often does the bug occur? Every time (100%)
Steps: How can we find the bug ourselves? Unsure other than trying to change the install location.
What happens when the bug occurs? Unable to select a download location since the file explorer window is blank, have to close the window.
What do you expect to see? A proper list of folders and install directories from which to choose my intended download location.
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I've allowed the app through my firewalls, given it the ability to run as Administrator and restarted it as well as my computer. Sadly all to no avail.
AN0THER_PERS0N
4 years ago
Any luck with solutions on this? I really don't want to install anything else onto my C Drive either
thilafa
4 years ago
Product: EA Desktop
Platform:PC
Error Report ID (learn how to create an Error Report ID in the sticky post)
Which client functionality are you experiencing this bug with? Download Game
When did this happen? (dd.mm.yy hh:mm) 19.03.21 12:00
Summarize your bug Changing the install location doesn't change the download location, blocking me from installing any game. My "C:" (windows drive) drive is full, but my "D:" Drive, where I'm trying to install the games to, does have space. I believe the app is trying to download on the C drive and after that it'll unpack and install on D, but this won't work if the download can't be completed because of lack of space.
How often does the bug occur? Every time (100%)
Steps: How can we find the bug ourselves? 1. with a full C drive, change the install location to another drive with space 2. Try to do download a game and install to the drive with space 3. Download will get blocked by lack of space on system
What happens when the bug occurs? The download gets blocked by lack of space on system
What do you expect to see? I'd expect the download to happen on the destination drive and not on the system drive, as with other gaming platforms.
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Changing the install location doesn't change the download location, blocking me from installing any game.
I have 2 hard drives, one small SSD for the system and a large one for games, my "C:" (windows/system drive) drive is full, but my "D:" Drive, where I'm trying to install the games to, does have space.
I believe the app is trying to download on the C drive and after that it'll unpack and install on D, but this won't work if the download can't be completed because of lack of space.
Stevonix1972
4 years ago
Same for me! This is a "show stopper" for me. Please fix this since many users do not install games on C:\