There is an SFSE mod that can handle this now:
Baka Kill My Games Folder

However, game updates will break SFSE for a time, and by extension, the above mod.
So if your are inclined, see the manual instructions below for a more robust approach that is immune to Todd Howard's interference.





STEAM VERSION ONLY(?) - Sorry Gamepass

We can make Starfield load textures from the regular game Data folder like previous Bethesda games by doing the following:
Assumes archive invalidation has already been setup: Archive Invalidation
This fixes Vortex for texture mod installs!

Navigate to
Documents/My Games/Starfield

Open the file:
StarfieldCustom.ini

Add the following lines to the file:
Pastebin Link
(Pastebin link because Nexus is causing invisible characters to be included when using copy-paste.)

This will change photomode to save your photos to: Documents/My Games/Starfield/Photos/
However, they will not appear in the photo browser in-game, unfortunately.

Careful before this next step if you have any texture mods installed here.
This is also where your in-game screenshots are located. Make sure to move them first if you don't want to lose them.
Delete the Data folder located at
Documents/My Games/Starfield/Data/

The game will now load textures from the game data folder instead!