'Desktop' or 'Public desktop'?

Question

_{Thursday, September 19, 2019 11:24 AM}

Hi all,

I'm not on here that often, but this one has me really stumped:

I'm trying to tidy shortcuts on various W10 clients around our school, All have been imaged using either a W10 1607 or 1709 build. They all have the latest updates.

My issue arose when I tried to write a script to copy specific files to the 'public desktop' folder in an attempt to tidy staff desktops up a little. It worked on some PCs and not others.

Further investigation revealed that some utilised "C:\users\public\desktop" and others used "C:\users\public\public desktop"

Could some please explain what has happened, or if it has changed over the past couple of years? It would be great to understand what it has changed from/to a bit better as I realise it's uncovered a few other desktop related issues!

Thanks!

All replies (4)

_{Thursday, September 19, 2019 1:14 PM}

In Windows 10 Login as Administrator .

Go to Control Panel > File Explorer Options > click on the View tab > under Advanced settings: look for hidden files and folders > choose "Show hidden files, folders, and drives" and click "OK".

Go to C drive (C:) > Users > Public > Public Desktop

The "public desktop" folder is normally a hidden folder.

Now you can put your shortcuts in: 

c:\Users\Public\Desktop

S.Sengupta,Microsoft MVP Windows and Devices for IT, Windows Insider MVP

_{Thursday, September 19, 2019 3:09 PM}

The file system folder is:

C:\Users\Public\Desktop

It displays in Explorer as 'Public Desktop' due to the display name assigned by its desktop.ini file:

[.ShellClassInfo]
LocalizedResourceName=@%SystemRoot%\system32\shell32.dll,-21799

_{Friday, September 20, 2019 8:48 AM}

Hi，

You can refer to the following link and it may be useful:

How to make a desktop shortcut available for all users in Windows 10

Note: This is a third-party link and we do not have any guarantees on this website. This is just for your convenience. And Microsoft does not make any guarantees about the content.

Hope can help you.

Best regards，

Kiki Shi

Please remember to mark the replies as answers if they help.
If you have feedback for TechNet Subscriber Support, contact [email protected].

_{Tuesday, September 24, 2019 7:41 AM}

Hi，

Would you mind letting me know the update of the problem? If you need further assistance, feel free to let me know. 

Best regards,

Kiki Shi

Please remember to mark the replies as answers if they help.
If you have feedback for TechNet Subscriber Support, contact [email protected].