# Move WSL to another location > Running low on C drive space? Follow this step-by-step guide to safely move your WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux) distribution and Docker data to a new drive location using the wsl --export and wsl --import commands. ---  > **TL;DR** This article shows how to move a WSL2 distribution off the C: drive to free up space, using `wsl --shutdown`, `wsl --export` to a `.tar` file, `wsl --unregister` to remove the original, and `wsl --import` to recreate it on another drive — the same export/unregister/import pattern also works to relocate the Docker Desktop WSL partition. By default, the Linux distribution is installed on your C: drive. If, like me, you have a D: drive with almost nothing on it, it can be really interesting to move Linux to that second drive. *Once moved, nothing else changes: your distribution keeps working exactly as before, [including opening your Linux folders in Windows Explorer](/blog/wsl-windows-explorer).* To do this: * Run `wsl --list --verbose` from a **PowerShell** console; you will get the name of your distribution (`Ubuntu` in my case), * From an **administrator PowerShell** console, * Run `wsl --shutdown` to shutdown WSL, * On your second drive, create a temporary folder like `d:\wsl`, * Run `wsl --export Ubuntu d:\wsl\ubuntu.tar`, * When finished, run `wsl --unregister Ubuntu` and then, * Run `wsl --import Ubuntu d:\wsl\ubuntu d:\wsl\ubuntu.tar --version 2` * Run `del d:\wsl\ubuntu.tar` You will need to do this for every distribution you have installed that you want to move. > **Information:** > > If you have Docker, you can do the same and move the Docker partition to your second disk. > > ```bash > $ wsl --export docker-desktop d:\wsl\docker-desktop.tar > ... > $ wsl --export docker-desktop-data d:\wsl\docker-desktop-data.tar > ... > $ wsl --unregister docker-desktop > ... > $ wsl --unregister docker-desktop-data > ... > $ wsl --import docker-desktop d:\wsl\docker-desktop d:\wsl\docker-desktop.tar --version 2 > ... > $ wsl --import docker-desktop-data d:\wsl\docker-desktop-data d:\wsl\docker-desktop-data.tar --version 2 > ... > $ del d:\wsl\docker-desktop.tar > ... > $ del d:\wsl\docker-desktop-data.tar > ... > ``` Once done, restart your computer to finalize the move.