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2026-07-04 07:40:09 +05:30 · 2022-09-14 19:51:10 +05:30
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+---
+title: Move WSL 2 Safely to another Drive
+date: 2020-12-31 19:07
+tags: wsl, wsl2
+category: development
+description: It is real pain when you have small SSD and Windows Subsystem for Linux
+(WSL) is growing exponentially in size. There is no easy way to move the
+WSL installation to another drive. Here in this blog I will discuss how
+to tackle this problem with bite size steps.
+---
+
+# Move WSL 2 Safely to another Drive
+
+It is real pain when you have small SSD and Windows Subsystem for Linux
+(WSL) is growing exponentially in size. There is no easy way to move the
+WSL installation to another drive. Here in this blog I will discuss how
+to tackle this problem with bite size steps.
+
+1. Open a PowerShell
+    <img src="/images/powershell.png" class="align-middle"
+    style="width:5.0%" alt="powershell" /> or Command Prompt
+    <img src="/images/command-line.png" class="align-middle"
+    style="width:5.0%" alt="command-line" /> with *Admin* access. For
+    this you can use
+    <img src="/images/windows10.png" class="align-middle" style="width:5.0%"
+    alt="WinKey" /> + X shortcut and select **Windows
+    PowerShell(Admin)**.
+2. Check if the WSL 2 installation you are planning to move is is
+  currently running/stopped.
+
+  ``` powershell
+  PS C:\Users\Avinal> wsl -l -v
+  PS C:\Users\Avinal>
+    NAME      STATE           VERSION
+  * Ubuntu    Running         2
+    Kali      Stopped         2
+  ```
+
+3. If its running then you must stop the particular WSL distribution.
+    (*Ubuntu* used as example)
+
+``` powershell
+PS C:\Users\Avinal> wsl -t Ubuntu
+```
+
+4. Export to some folder. (Here exporting *Ubuntu* as *ubuntu-ex.tar*
+    to *Z:wsl2*)
+
+``` powershell
+PS C:\Users\Avinal> wsl --export Ubuntu "Z:\export\ubuntu-ex.tar"
+```
+
+5. Unregister previous WSL installation
+
+``` powershell
+PS C:\Users\Avinal> wsl --unregister Ubuntu
+```
+
+6. Create a new folder and import your WSL installation to that folder.
+
+``` powershell
+PS C:\Users\Avinal> New-Item -Path "Z:\wsl2" -ItemType Directory
+
+    Directory: Z:\
+
+Mode                 LastWriteTime         Length Name
+----                 -------------         ------ ----
+d-----        31-12-2020     21:03                wsl2
+
+PS C:\Users\Avinal> wsl --import Ubuntu "Z:\wsl2" "Z:\export\ubuntu-ex.tar"
+```
+
+7. Check after import is complete
+
+``` powershell
+PS C:\Users\Avinal> wsl -l -v
+PS C:\Users\Avinal>
+  NAME      STATE           VERSION
+* Ubuntu    Running         2
+  Kali      Stopped         2
+```
+
+8. Mark one of your WSL distribution as *(default)*.
+
+``` powershell
+PS C:\Users\Avinal> wsl -s Ubuntu
+```
+
+9. After exporting your default user will be set as
+    <i style="color:red">root</i> , to change it to your desired
+    username, run following command
+
+``` powershell
+PS C:\Users\Avinal> ubuntu config --default-user user_name
+```
+
+10. Finally run `wsl` and you have successfully moved your WSL 2
+    installation to another drive.