2012-02-12

Windows 7 Folder Locations

Reference document: Windows 7 (and Vista) File folder locations.

Folders locations for various items, such as All Users Start Menu, Default Profiles, etc., have changed since Windows XP.  New file / folder locations are listed below.

For Windows XP, see this article:  Windows XP Folder Locations

Required Windows Explorer Changes
Many of the folders described below are hidden by default in Windows Explorer.  Make these changes to expose them.

In Windows Explorer:

A.  Expose the File-Edit-View menus:

Select top-tool-bar button "Organize", Layout
Check [x] Menu Bar

B.  Set Folder options:

In the top-menu, choose Tools, Folder Options, "View"
[x] Show Hidden files and folders
[  ] Hide extensions for known file types (uncheck)
[  ] Hide protected operating system files (uncheck)

C.  Propagate changes to all folders on the drive:

Click "Apply"
Click "Apply to Folders"
Click Ok

Folder Locations:

All Users
All Users Desktopusers\Public\Desktop
All Users Start Menu programData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs
Note: ("Pin to Start Menu" is user-based only)
See also users\[userid]\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\User Pinned\Start Menu
All Users Programs programData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs
All Users SendTo (None: See user)
All Users Documents users\Public\Documents
All Users Favorite users\Public\Favorites
All Users Templates users\Public\Favorites

USER
My Documents
(Documents and Settings)
users\[userid]\My Documents
Users (Personal) Start Menu users\[userid]\Appdata\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu
Users (Personal) Desktop" users\[userid]\Desktop
Users (Personal) Music" users\[userid]\My Music
All Users Send-To Menu" users\[userid]\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\SendTo
Users (Personal) AppData users\[userid]\Appdata\Roaming
Note: sub-folder 'LocalLow' does not roam; for hardware-specific data or if too large to roam
LocalLow is also for non-critical, "low-integrity data"; used by IE in protected mode
Cookies users\[userid]\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Cookies
Local Settings users\[userid]\AppData\Local
Recent users\[userid]\Appdata\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Recent Items
History users\[userid]\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\History

Default Profiles
Default User Profile users\Default
Default User SendTo users\Default\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\SendTo

Outlook
Outlook (settings) users\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Outlook
Outlook (msg) users\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook