How to generically refer to the AppData folder on the Windows command line?

Question

The original User's Profile directory lives in a directory like C:\Users\username\AppData.

How can I refer to the current user's profile directory when using the Windows command line?

By searching I found out about %UserProfile% that perhaps refer to the current username, but it does not really work. When I tried using it, I received the error "The filename, directory name, or volume label syntax is incorrect".

Solution 1

Run a command shell (start/Run, then "cmd") and type "set". This will list all the environmental variables available. Having said that, USERPROFILE is perfectly valid. There's also APPDATA and LOCALAPPDATA.

(Edit: stuartd has the right answer too - I was sidetracked while editing!)

Solution 2

Here are some of the common system path variables on windows, but check here for a complete reference:

| Variable       | Default Value                                                                |
|----------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| %SystemDrive%  | C:                                                                           |
| %ProgramFiles% | C:\Program Files                                                             |
| %AppData%      | C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Roaming                                          |
| %LocalAppData% | C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local                                            |
| %UserProfile%  | C:\Users\{username}                                                          |
| %UserName%     | {username}                                                                   |
| %COMPUTERNAME% | {computername}                                                               |
| %PATH%         | C:\Windows\system32;C:\Windows;C:\Windows\System32\Wbem;{plus program paths} |

These should automatically be expanded when using the windows cmd prompt (or bash / powershell):

cd %UserProfile%

Your specific issue here seems to be using UserProfile instead of UserName. Either use cd %UserProfile% or cd C:\Users\%UserName%

Further Reading:

• %USERPROFILE% variable not working
• SS64 - Windows Environment Variables
• MS Docs - Recognized Environment Variables

Comments

[Admin]

In what context do you get the error? CD %USERPROFILE% works as expected, as does CD %LOCALAPPDATA% and CD %APPDATA%

[Admin]

Wjen I used C:\Users\%UserProfile%\AppData

[Admin]

Ah. That would be the issue then. C:\Users\%UserProfile%\AppData would expand to "C:\Users\C:\Users\Super\AppData"! "cd %USERPROFILE%\AppData" works as expected.

[Admin]

Thanks carveone...hope will be answering my needs further

[Hannes Schneidermayer]

Good answer! I learned.