How to replace the System's Download folder with one in an external drive? When you open finder, there is a download folder with a unique icon. I'd like to move that folder to an external one and force the system to recognise that new location.
This is possible via symbolic link.

Move your existing data in ~/Downloads to the location you want, let's say /ExternalDrive/Downloads

Open Terminal and run:
This will remove the Dowloads folder and you'll need to type in your password to do that (you won't see *** when entering, just hit enter after you finish).
sudo rm -rf ~/Downloads


Create a symbolic link to your desired location:
ln -s &quot;/ExternalDrive/Downloads&quot; ~/Downloads



And voila! Dowloads folder moved.
A more detailed version of this process and be found here.
It's also possible to create a link to the iCloud Download folder. Using this command:
ln -s /Users/yourusernamehere/Library/Mobile\ Documents/com\~apple\~CloudDocs/Downloads  ~/Downloads