On Microsoft Windows, a special folder is a folder that is presented to the user through an interface as an abstract concept instead of an absolute folder path. (The synonymous term shell folder is sometimes used instead.) Special folders make it possible for any application to ask the operating system where an appropriate location for certain kinds of files can be found; independently of which version or user language of Windows is being used.

In Windows Server 2003 and earlier, a folder like the "Start Menu" had a different name on non-English versions of Windows. For example, on German versions of Windows XP it is "Startmenü". However, starting with Windows Vista, all versions of Windows use the same English named folders and only display different names in the Windows Explorer. In Windows 10 the user can switch to another display language and the names of the special folders will change.[1]

Overview

Figure 1: Windows Explorer's folder view in Windows XP uses virtual folders as the root.

Windows uses the concept of special folders to present the contents of the storage devices connected to the computer in a fairly consistent way that frees the user from having to deal with absolute file paths, which can (and often do) change between operating system versions, and even individual installations. The idea has evolved over time, with new special folders being added in every version of Windows after their introduction in Windows 95.

Microsoft's "Compatible with Windows" software logo[2] requires that an application make use of special folders locations to locate the appropriate folders in which documents and application settings should be stored.

A special folder can either be a reference to a physical file system directory, or a reference to a "virtual" folder. In the former case, they are analogous to environment variables—in fact, many of the environment variables that are set in a user's session are defined by where the special folders are set to point to.

Virtual folders do not actually exist on the file system; they are instead presented through Windows Explorer as a tree of folders that the user can navigate. This is known as the Shell namespace. On Windows XP systems, the root of this namespace is the Desktop virtual folder, which contains the My Documents, My Computer (Computer from Windows Vista to 8.1 and This PC from Windows 10), My Network Places (Network Neighbourhood in Windows 95 and 98) and Recycle Bin virtual folders. Some virtual folders (like Desktop) have an accompanying special folder that is a reference to a directory on the physical file system. Windows Explorer displays the combined contents of a virtual folder and its associated file system folder to the user. This can be seen in Figure 1, which shows the Folder view in Windows XP's Explorer; in the Desktop virtual folder, the four standard virtual folders can be seen, as well as an additional folder, "a folder on the desktop", which is a real folder located in the Desktop directory in the user's profile.

Some third-party programs add their own virtual folders to Windows Explorer.

List of special folders

The following tables list most of the file system and virtual folders that are available as of Windows Vista. The OS version in which each special folder was introduced is given as well. Items like %USERPROFILE% and %windir% are Windows environment variables.

File system directories

Special folder Intended purpose Default Location
(in English. Non-English versions of Windows XP or earlier will use directory names appropriate to that language.)		 First appeared in OS
Application Data Per-user application-specific files
On Windows 98 and Windows Me
%windir%\Application Data
On Windows 2000 and Windows XP
%USERPROFILE%\Application Data
On Windows Vista and later
%APPDATA%
 98
Briefcase Files that need to be kept in sync
On Windows 95, Windows 98 and Windows Me
%windir%\Desktop
On Windows 2000 and later, not created by default but can be created in any folder. The Desktop.ini hidden system file inside the Briefcase and the Briefcase Explorer shell extension (SyncUI.dll) contained its functionality. Removed in Windows 10 Version 1703 and later.
 95
Cookies Internet Explorer browser cookies
On Windows 98 and Windows Me
%windir%\Cookies
On Windows 2000 and later
%USERPROFILE%\Cookies
On Windows Vista and later
%APPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\Cookies
 98
Desktop Directory Files stored on the user's desktop
On Windows 95, Windows 98 and Windows Me
%windir%\Desktop
On Windows 2000 and later
%USERPROFILE%\Desktop
 95
Favorites User's Favorites
On Windows 98 and Windows Me
%windir%\Favorites
On Windows 2000 and later
%USERPROFILE%\Favorites
 98
Fonts Container folder for installed fonts %windir%\Fonts 95
History User-specific browser history %USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\History 98
Internet Cache User-specific Temporary Internet Files
On Windows 98 and Windows Me

%windir%\Temporary Internet Files

On Windows 2000 and Windows XP

%USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files

On Windows Vista and Windows 7

%LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files

On Windows 8 and later

%LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\INetCache

 98
Local Application Data User-specific and computer-specific application settings
On Windows 98 and Windows Me
%windir%\Application Data
On Windows 2000 and Windows XP
%USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Application Data
On Windows Vista and later
%LOCALAPPDATA%
 95
My Documents User's documents
On Windows 98 and Windows Me
C:\My Documents
On Windows 2000 and Windows XP
%USERPROFILE%\My Documents
On Windows Vista and later
%USERPROFILE%\Documents
 98
My Music User's music
On Windows 98 and Windows Me
C:\My Documents\My Music
On Windows 2000 and Windows XP
%USERPROFILE%\My Documents\My Music
On Windows Vista and later
%USERPROFILE%\Music
 98
My Pictures User's pictures
On Windows 98 and Windows Me
C:\My Documents\My Pictures
On Windows 2000 and Windows XP
%USERPROFILE%\My Documents\My Pictures
On Windows Vista and later
%USERPROFILE%\Pictures
 98
My Videos User's video files
On Windows 98 and Windows Me
C:\My Documents\My Videos
On Windows 2000 and Windows XP
%USERPROFILE%\My Documents\My Videos
On Windows Vista and later
%USERPROFILE%\Videos
 98
Programs User-specific "(All) Programs" groups and icons
On Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 2000 and Windows XP
%USERPROFILE%\Start Menu\Programs
On Windows Vista and later
%APPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs
 95
Recent User-specific "My Recent Documents"
On Windows 98
%USERPROFILE%\Recent
On Windows 2000 and Windows XP
%USERPROFILE%\My Recent Documents
On Windows Vista and later
%APPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\Recent
 98
Send To User-specific "Send To" menu items
On Windows 98, Windows 2000 and Windows XP
%USERPROFILE%\SendTo
On Windows Vista and later
%APPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\SendTo
 98
Start Menu User-specific "Start Menu" items
On Windows 95
%windir%\Start Menu
On Windows 98, Windows 2000 and Windows XP
%USERPROFILE%\Start Menu
On Windows Vista and later
%APPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu
 95
System The Windows system directory
On Windows 95, Windows 98 and Windows Me
16-bit and 32-bit libraries and executables
%windir%\System
Some other 32-bit libraries and executables
%windir%\System32
On Windows 2000 and later 32-bit Windows editions
32-bit libraries and executables
%windir%\system32
16-bit libraries and executables
%windir%\System
On 64-bit Windows editions
64-bit libraries and executables
%windir%\System32[3]
32-bit libraries and executables
%windir%\SysWOW64[4]
 95
Saved Games User's Saved Games %USERPROFILE%\Saved Games Vista
Templates User-specific document templates
On Windows 98 and Windows Me
%windir%\ShellNew
On Windows 2000 and Windows XP
%USERPROFILE%\Templates
On Windows Vista and later
%APPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\Templates
 98

Notes:

  1. The "Desktop" virtual folder is not the same thing as the "Desktop" special folder. The Desktop virtual folder is the root of the Windows Shell namespace, which contains other virtual folders.[5]
  2. "Local Application Data" differs from "Application Data" in that files located in the "Local" variant are also intended to be specific to the machine it is on. This only has relevance if the user's profile is a Roaming Profile in a Windows Server domain environment.[6]
  3. As with Desktop, the "My Documents" virtual folder differs from the "My Documents" special folder. If the virtual folder variant is asked for, it will appear in a file dialog as a sub-directory of the "Desktop" virtual folder, instead of the user's profile directory as it physically exists on the hard drive.
  4. If the "My Documents" folder is moved (e.g., to a network drive), attempting to access it via the shell variable will go to the original, default location.

Virtual folders

Virtual Folder Represents OS
Recycle Bin The aggregated contents of the Recycle Bin on all drives for the current user 95
Control Panel Icons for Control Panel (Windows) applets 95
Desktop The Windows Desktop 95
Drives My Computer; contains virtual folders representing everything on the local machine, as well as mapped network drives 95
Internet Resources located on the Internet; WebDAV connections, etc. 98
My Documents Virtual folder of the user's My Documents folder; used as a child of the Desktop virtual folder 98
Network Network Neighborhood (Windows 95 and 98) or My Network Places (Windows 2000 and later); contains virtual folders for representing all network resources 95
Search Results Listing of the results of the last search of the computer (appears only after a search) 2000[7]
Printers Container folder for installed printers 95

Notes:

  1. The "Desktop" virtual folder is not the same thing as the "Desktop" special folder. The Desktop virtual folder is the root of the Windows Shell namespace, which contains other virtual folders.[5]
  2. As with Desktop, the "My Documents" virtual folder differs from the "My Documents" special folder. If the virtual folder variant is asked for, it will appear in a file dialog as a sub-directory of the "Desktop" virtual folder, instead of the user's profile directory as it logically exists on the hard drive.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "How to Change the Display Language in Windows 10". How-To Geek. Archived from the original on November 6, 2015.
  2. ↑ Windows Software Logo Program
  3. ↑ The use of %windir%\System32 for 64-bit libraries and executables in a 64-bit Windows OS is intended to not break existing 32-bit programs (already using %windir%\System32) that are recompiled without modifications as a 64-bit executable.
  4. ↑ 32-bit executables have this directory mapped as %windir%\System32.
  5. 1 2 The Shell Namespace
  6. ↑ Chen, Raymond (2006). "Taxes". The Old New Thing (1st ed.). Pearson Education. p. 451. ISBN 0-321-44030-7.
  7. ↑ Paul Thurrott's SuperSite for Windows: Windows 2000 Professional Beta 3 Reviewed
  • CSIDL Values — MSDN documentation containing a complete list of all available special folders and virtual folders
  • — knownfolderid: An extended list of (Win7 and later) special folders with their virtual folder IDs.
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