# Move home folder to externial drive

**URL:** <https://forum.clockworkpi.com/t/move-home-folder-to-externial-drive/17250>\
**Category:** uConsole\
**Created:** [May 3, 2025, 9:56pm UTC](https://forum.clockworkpi.com/t/move-home-folder-to-externial-drive/17250 "2025-05-03T21:56:54Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![mattconn24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6f9a4e/32.png) [@mattconn24](https://forum.clockworkpi.com/u/mattconn24)\
**Post date:** [May 3, 2025, 9:56pm UTC](https://forum.clockworkpi.com/t/move-home-folder-to-externial-drive/17250/1 "2025-05-03T21:56:54Z")

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Hey guys i recently followed this guide to move my home folder to an external USB so i would have more room to install programs because i have and 32GB EMMC and i was running out of room.

[https://youtu.be/yTmgFXmRsDo?si=YPa7XujVp-GKX00Q](https://youtu.be/yTmgFXmRsDo?si=YPa7XujVp-GKX00Q)

is this the correct process? now when i try to boot up with another thumb drive inserted in addition to the internal one, it doesn’t boot up to the desktop, but will boot fine with just the internal thumb drive installed.

Basically my goal is to increase my total storage and have the external drive increase not just my storage but also the amount of programs i can install. here is my fstab file as well.

```auto
proc /proc proc defaults 0 0
PARTUUID=afd39d06-01 /boot/firmware vfat defaults 0 2
PARTUUID=afd39d06-02 / ext4 defaults,noatime 0 1
# a swapfile is not a swap partition, no line here
# use dphys-swapfile swap[on|off] for that
/dev/sda1	/home	ext4	defaults	0	0

```

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**Author:** ![Rex](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/user_avatar/forum.clockworkpi.com/rex/32/16852_2.png) [@Rex](https://forum.clockworkpi.com/u/Rex)\
**Post date:** [May 3, 2025, 10:03pm UTC](https://forum.clockworkpi.com/t/move-home-folder-to-externial-drive/17250/2 "2025-05-03T22:03:08Z")

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You have to use the PARTUUID and not /dev/sda1. Your other USB drive is claiming sda1 so the OS sees no home folder with your current setup. You can get that info by using `blkid` in the terminal.

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**Author:** ![mattconn24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6f9a4e/32.png) [@mattconn24](https://forum.clockworkpi.com/u/mattconn24)\
**Post date:** [May 3, 2025, 10:14pm UTC](https://forum.clockworkpi.com/t/move-home-folder-to-externial-drive/17250/3 "2025-05-03T22:14:57Z")

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thanks rex your the man!! with this set up once i run out of the 32 emmc storage will i still be able to install programs?

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**Author:** ![Rex](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/user_avatar/forum.clockworkpi.com/rex/32/16852_2.png) [@Rex](https://forum.clockworkpi.com/u/Rex)\
**Post date:** [May 3, 2025, 10:16pm UTC](https://forum.clockworkpi.com/t/move-home-folder-to-externial-drive/17250/4 "2025-05-03T22:16:54Z")

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No, unless the apps are flatpacks or appimages they’ll need to be able to install to the main filesystem.

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**Author:** ![yasbean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ba9def/32.png) [@yasbean](https://forum.clockworkpi.com/u/yasbean)\
**Post date:** [May 4, 2025, 5:10pm UTC](https://forum.clockworkpi.com/t/move-home-folder-to-externial-drive/17250/5 "2025-05-04T17:10:04Z")

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Or if you move the entire /usr off to an external drive.