CODEWITHSUNDEEP
windowsenvironment-variables
zar
zar

Reputation: 12227

Why does %AppData% in windows 7 seemingly points to wrong folder?

The best way to find and get to AppData folder (specifically windows 7) is to type %AppData% in start command. But it takes me to C:\Users\user.name\AppData\Roaming

Why does it takes me to Roaming folder when the actual AppData Folder is one level up? It happens on both computers I have.

Upvotes: 3

Views: 2516

Answers (2)

Xiangkun
Xiangkun

Reputation: 1107

Typing appdata (not %appdata%) in Run dialog (Win+R) takes you to %USERPROFILE%\AppData (i.e. %AppData%\..).

Upvotes: 0

Cody Gray
Cody Gray

Reputation: 244722

There is no environment variable for the root "AppData" folder because no one should ever put data there. Instead, applications put data into subfolders of the "AppData" folder depending on the nature of that data.

There are three subfolders:

  • Roaming
  • Local
  • LocalLow

The regular old %AppData% environment variable points to the path for the "Roaming" subfolder, which is where most applications should store their data, unless they have a specific reason that that data should not roam with the user's profile.

If you want the "Local" (non-roaming) sub-folder, use the %LocalAppData% environment variable instead.

As for typing this into the Start → Run dialog, that doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Data that is stored here is not intended for user consumption. It is private data stored by applications for their own use—things like configuration files, databases, etc. User-facing data should be in the Documents folder or at a path specified by the user. If you're a software developer accessing this folder for testing purposes, just go up one level.

Upvotes: 3

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