1. The Lumion-documents folder

1.1: Lumion stores custom data (Imported Models, Custom Materials, Recent Files, etc) in the Lumion-documents folder. The default location is:

• Documents\Lumion\

In Lumion 2023.1.2 and newer versions, you can change the location of the Documents folder in the settings of the software. 

Make sure to read the Important notes in Section 2.5.

1.2: A local drive should be used as the destination for the Lumion-documents folder. It is not recommended to use a network drive or a folder backed up by a cloud application as the location of the Lumion-documents folder given that unexpected behavior may occur (slow down, crashes, or corrupted files)

1.3: The option to change the location of the Lumion-documents folder is only available for local administrators.

That is, you have logged in to Windows with a Windows Profile that has Administrator rights. 

If you have logged in to Windows as a Standard user then you will only see the current location of the folder with no option to change it (see Section 2 on how to change the location):

2. Setting a custom location for the Lumion-documents folder:

2.1: Open Lumion as Administrator:

2.2: Go to Settings:

2.3: Select the button for the Lumion-documents folder:

2.4: Note that Lumion will need a restart after accepting the new location:

2.5: Browse to the location and click 'Select Folder':

Important:

Please do not select a folder used by an earlier version of Lumion. 

If you do, then when saving/overwriting or during file access, incompatible file formats can result in Imported Models and other files from no longer being read and usable.

This applies especially for the changes in Lumion 2025 data formats:

• Knowledge Base:  Lumion 2025.0: Everything you need to know
• Knowledge Base:  How do you migrate Projects and Files to Lumion version 2025?

Also, please do not assign Lumion to a folder that is part of OneDrive or other cloud file share/backup. Saving and loading large files via cloud storage is known to increase significantly the risk of data loss due potential file locking and for the very big difference in speeds as compared to your local drives or local network.

2.6: A subfolder named Lumion will be automatically created:

2.7: Important: The contents of the old Lumion-documents folder need to be manually copied and pasted to the new location. In this example, the contents of the Lumion subfolder would need to be:

• copied from C:\Users\User\Documents\Lumion
• and pasted to F:\10_Testing\Documents\Lumion

2.7: Restart Lumion- do not do any modification in Lumion before doing so.

2.8: In the situation you need to revert the Lumion-documents folder to its original location, you can do so by selecting the 'Restore' button:

3. Changing the location of the Lumion-documents folder after a start-up error:

3.1: When Lumion cannot access the default location of the Documents folder, a notification will appear:

3.2: You can give access to the Documents folder by following the instructions below:

• Knowledge Base: Why does Lumion need access to your computer's Documents folder?

3.3: Running Lumion as an Administrator will also allow you to change the location where Lumion stores the user data to a custom one:

3.3: Note that Lumion will need a restart after accepting the new location:

3.4: Browse to the location and click 'Select Folder':

3.5: A subfolder named Lumion will be automatically created:

3.6: Once Lumion detects that it has access to the set location, the error will disappear.

3.7: Important: If there were any contents inside the old Lumion-documents folder, the data needs to be manually copied and pasted to the new location. In this example, the contents of the Lumion subfolder would need to be:

• copied from C:\Users\User\Documents\Lumion
• and pasted to F:\10_Testing\Documents\Lumion

3.8: Restart Lumion - do not do any modifications in Lumion before doing so.

See also:

• Knowledge Base: Why does Lumion need access to your computer's Documents folder?