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I am running a full node using Bitcoin Core GUI on Windows 10. The conf file is in my bitcoin data directory, instead of being in the appdata/roaming folder. But Bitcoin-qt points to it by default and seems to work fine.

But bitcoind and bitcoin-cli are looking for the conf file in the appdata/roaming folder, which I guess is the reason the bitcoind server never appears to start. How do I start bitcoind and check if it is running or not? I need bitcoind to run so that I can use json-rpc commands.

If I run bitcoind on cmd, it appears to start downloading the whole blockchain again, which is unnecessary because I already have all of it.

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Reset to default
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You can use the --datadir parameter to specify the exact location of your blockchain data, and --conf to specify the location of your configuration file.

From the wiki:

If you want to store the data in D:\BitcoinData then click on "Properties" of a shortcut to bitcoin-qt.exe and add -datadir=D:\BitcoinData at the end as an example:

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Bitcoin\bitcoin-qt.exe" -datadir=d:\BitcoinData

Start Bitcoin, now you will see all the files are created in the new data directory.

If you have a custom config, do the same with the added parameter:

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Bitcoin\bitcoin-qt.exe" -datadir=d:\BitcoinData -conf d:\Bitcoin\bitcoin.conf

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  • Thanks @KappaDev - quick question: When you say "click on "Properties" of a shortcut to bitcoin-qt.exe and add -datadir=D:\BitcoinData at the end as an example:" Actually, I wanted to update the conf file location for bitcoind and not bitcoin-qt. When I right click on Properties for the bitcoind exe file, it doesn't give me any place to enter any such commands. Which tab of the properties should I look under, please? I am able to run bitcoind on cmd using --datadir=d:\BitcoinData as a one-time thing, but I want bitcoind to remember the location every time.
    – oktested
    Oct 24, 2018 at 8:28
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    @oktested No problem. The actual .EXE file won't have the same properties tab, you need to right click the EXE and press "Create Shortcut". Once you have created the shortcut, right click it and go to properties and modify the "Target" option. It will look something like this. Just modify the line the same way you would run from the command prompt. If you have your BTC automatically on startup, check the startup folder of your operating system and edit that shortcut too.
    – KappaDev
    Oct 24, 2018 at 14:28

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