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Re: Can't change install location on Mac OS Catalina

Have been having the same problem with Origin on macOS Catalina. Tried many solutions and finally found a workaround.

Make sure the Origin application is closed.

Open a new Finder window and in the menu bar click  Go > Go to Folder...   (You can also use the keyboard shortcut SHIFT+CMD+G)

In the dialogue box that pops up copy and paste the following path:    ~/Library/Application Support/Origin/   and click Go or press Enter on you keyboard.

Once inside the folder you will see a list of files and sub-folders. One of the files is titled  local.xml  right-click on it then click Open With...  >  TextEdit   (if TextEdit does not appear in the menu click Other... and then scroll down to find TextEdit and double click it)

The file local.xml should now open in the TextEdit app. The file includes several lines with Settings and Values.

The line we're looking for is this:  

 <Setting type="10" key="DownloadInPlaceDir" value="/Users/USERNAME/Applications"/>  

(your macOS user name will appear instead of USERNAME)

Now in order to change the default Origin game library location all we have to do is change the value in this line to the folder path that we want to use.

For example if you want to change the install location to a folder on an external drive the line should look something like this:

<Setting type="10" key="DownloadInPlaceDir" value="/Volumes/EXTERNAL DRIVE/FOLDER NAME"/>

Of course you must change EXTERNAL DRIVE and FOLDER NAME to the actual drive and folder name on your Mac. On mine for example the external drive is called X5 SSD and I created a folder named Origin on it. So my line looks like this:

<Setting type="10" key="DownloadInPlaceDir" value="/Volumes/X5 SSD/Origin"/>

Make sure you only change the value inside the quotation marks while keeping everything else intact.

When you're done save the changes by pressing CMD + S on you keyboard. Close the TextEdit window.

Now launch the Origin app. If the folder path you entered in the local.xml file is valid Origin should open as usual and you can go to Origin > Preferences in the menu bar. Check under Installs & Saves and you should see the folder path updated under Game Library Location. Any new game you install in Origin will now be installed in the new folder.

If the folder path you entered in the locals.xml file is invalid you will get a pop up window after launching Origin alerting you that games cannot be installed to the folder you chose and that you must change it. You must quit Origin and edit the local.xml file again.

Hope this helps!

25 Replies

  • @rodiak88 Thanks for this! Worked perfectly! All you have to do is repair the game in origin, and everything works perfectly.
  • I can't find

    The line we're looking for is this:  

     <Setting type="10" key="DownloadInPlaceDir" value="/Users/USERNAME/Applications"/>  

  • alicepaver's avatar
    alicepaver
    6 years ago

    Hi,

    I found that it wasn't listed in that order in my file, instead it was like this:

    <Setting value="/Users/USERNAME/Applications"/ type="10" key="DownloadInPlaceDir"/>

    When I changed this line to reflect the location on my external drive, it worked.

  • OMG you saved me!  I've been trouble shooting this for days!!  Turns out I didn't even have that line of code in my xml file so I just added it and now all is sunny and bright!  Thank you, Thank you!!

  • SisterSims17's avatar
    SisterSims17
    6 years ago
    @dazycrazybeauty Mine didn't have it in there either, but if you just add it in there at the bottom of the xml file it should work fine. It did for me. I also reversed a couple they "key" and the "type" so it would match the format of the rest of them. Like this:
    <Setting key="DownloadInPlaceDir" type="10" value="/Volumes/EXTERNAL DRIVE/FOLDER NAME"/>

    Although not sure the switch is necessary. I just did it for good measure.
  • alleneuan's avatar
    alleneuan
    6 years ago

    I tried all of this and It's still not working. I don't understand why origin hasn't fixed this yet since its clearly an issue for many 

  • Megl87's avatar
    Megl87
    6 years ago
    @alleneuan Unfortunately, this did not work for me either. I tried both recommendations. If anyone figures this out, please post it!
  • @Megl87 Update, I kept closing and reopening the origin local xml file int the edit text app until it looked exactly like @roakie88 did. When it was exact, I edited what needed to be edited for it to go onto my external hard drive. It ended up changing the location and working, so keep trying!
  • can you share what you edited it to? I'm having trouble making it work. 

    Thank you!

  • ElizAlex96's avatar
    ElizAlex96
    6 years ago

    Nevermind! I figured it out!

    My local.xml file was missing two lines! For anyone who is also missing it, this is what I typed!

    <Setting key="DownloadInPlaceDir" type="10" value="/Volumes/easystore/Origin"/>

    and the line with my MacOS username.

  • pyasay's avatar
    pyasay
    6 years ago

    I've tried this. It worked but then it happened again. So I tried your method again but its still giving me the same error â˜šī¸

  • My local file does not have that line. Is there another place that I can look?

  • Seriously, thank you so much! This also worked for me. My local.xml file didn't look exactly the same but like someone else said, each time I opened it, it changed so I just waited for the right one. I had initially forgotten to include "volumes" before the name of my external drive and that messed it up so don't forget that!

    I didn't see anyone mention it but the reason I found this thread is that every time I tried to change the game library location, my cursor turned into the spinning pinwheel of death. It just kept spinning, then would stop but nothing happened. Very bizarre. So this helped me manually change the location and we're downloading as I type this. I've spent almost 3 hours chatting with EA support and no one ever suggested this. 

  • Ghostielyz's avatar
    Ghostielyz
    6 years ago

    I wish origin would fix this.  I would really like to be able to download games to the location I choose without having to edit code so that I can.  It used to work. So why can't it again?

  • Smexhyy's avatar
    Smexhyy
    6 years ago
    I think this should be fixed already. It's annoying and Catalina was here for a while already. Not fixed even in beta. Don't say me it's hard please, there are many users on macOS who wants this fixed.
  • You deserve a trophy for this. Bless your heart, your family, and all of your future endeavors! THANK U 🙏đŸŊ 

  • rodiak88 I can't find <Setting type="10" key="DownloadInPlaceDir" value="/Users/USERNAME/Applications"/> when I go into textedit

  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    Hero+
    6 years ago

    @Unicorn10128  Then you have to add the lines yourself, as described earlier in the thread.

    What game are you trying to install?  This issue was supposed to have been fixed a few Origin patches ago, and I haven't heard much from it lately.

  • Can you do this if you don't have an external drive or do you need one?

  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    Hero+
    6 years ago

    @Unicorn10128  Again, what game are you trying to install?  And it would be good to know what operating system your computer runs as well.

  • bna2271's avatar
    bna2271
    4 years ago
    @rodiak88 This was great! Thank you.
    Also adding - if you haven't downloaded anything yet then you wont see the line <Setting type="10" key="DownloadInPlaceDir" value="/Users/USERNAME/Applications"/> - I added it in and it worked nicely.

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