How to get Desktop location?

Question

I'm using Python on Windows and I want a part of my script to copy a file from a certain directory (I know its path) to the Desktop.

I used this:

shutil.copy(txtName, '%HOMEPATH%/desktop')

While txtName is the txt File's name (with full path).

I get the error:

IOError: [Errno 2] No such file or directory: '%HOMEPATH%/DESKTOP'

Any help?

I want the script to work on any computer.

All answers (except GPCracker) are incorrect, because the desktop folder can be moved outside HOMEPATH. — andreymal, Aug 30 '19 at 08:56

score 61 · Answer 1 · answered Dec 14 '15 at 20:25

61

On Unix or Linux:

import os
desktop = os.path.join(os.path.join(os.path.expanduser('~')), 'Desktop')

on Windows:

import os
desktop = os.path.join(os.path.join(os.environ['USERPROFILE']), 'Desktop')

and to add in your command:

shutil.copy(txtName, desktop)

answered Dec 14 '15 at 20:25

@BenL please vote up or accept if you found it helpful or if it solved your question. – Dec 14 '15 at 20:36
both you and the one above you had great answers. wish I could accept to you both. voted up now. thank you! – Ben L Dec 14 '15 at 20:49
3

In both Windows and Linux this seems to work: `os.path.expanduser("~/Desktop")` – dashesy Apr 26 '18 at 03:36
4

There is no need for the inner `os.path.join()` call. Also, the first solution works for Windows too: there is no need for the second solution. – Eric O. Lebigot Aug 24 '18 at 08:00
@ChauLoi yes it is, I tested it on Mac, it gives you the parent folder of user – Idhem May 04 '20 at 13:45
This is no longer reliable on Windows 10. The Desktop may be located in OneDrive, either a personal account or business. – killjoy May 26 '22 at 16:41

dashesy · Answer 2 · 2019-01-29T19:52:05.937

35

This works on both Windows and Linux:

import os
desktop = os.path.expanduser("~/Desktop")

# the above is valid on Windows (after 7) but if you want it in os normalized form:
desktop = os.path.normpath(os.path.expanduser("~/Desktop"))

edited Jan 29 '19 at 19:52

answered Jul 31 '18 at 16:49

dashesy

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Would this work on non-English Windows machines? When I checked back around 2010 this was not the case. – Eric O. Lebigot Aug 24 '18 at 08:00
@EricLebigot I do not have non-English Windows machine to test, can you let us know? – dashesy Aug 24 '18 at 18:17
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That will produce `'C:\\Users\\user/Desktop'` on Windows ... This will work on Win `desktop = os.path.expanduser("~\\Desktop")` – Jan 03 '19 at 14:37
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@Sabrina that is valid, in newer Widows you can use `/` and it is preferred because you won't have to escape it. You can use `os.path.normpath` if you care. – dashesy Jan 03 '19 at 18:07
1

It does work on non-English (Spanish) machine, and it actually outputs what Sabrina says. – Javier Jan 29 '19 at 12:35
It does not work on non-English Linux machine, because my desktop folder is actually `/home/andreymal/Рабочий стол` – andreymal Aug 30 '19 at 08:58

score 32 · Accepted Answer · edited Jan 24 '19 at 01:59

32

You can use os.environ["HOMEPATH"] to get the path. Right now it's literally trying to find %HOMEPATH%/Desktop without substituting the actual path.

Maybe something like:

shutil.copy(txtName, os.path.join(os.environ["HOMEPATH"], "Desktop"))

edited Jan 24 '19 at 01:59

martineau

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answered Dec 14 '15 at 20:23

tpearse

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`os.path.expanduser("~/Desktop")` works on Linux and Windows – dashesy Apr 26 '18 at 03:36
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@dashesy: You should make that an answer - it's better than any of the others. – Adrian Keister Jul 31 '18 at 13:58

score 30 · Answer 4 · answered Apr 28 '20 at 07:57

30

For 3.5+ you can use pathlib:

import pathlib

desktop = pathlib.Path.home() / 'Desktop'

answered Apr 28 '20 at 07:57

johnson

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My desktop isn't located on my C:\, and all other options don't work directly. I like this solution! – TimeTravelPenguin Aug 16 '20 at 01:58
2

This seems to be the modern way to do this. – 101 Aug 18 '20 at 04:24

score 13 · Answer 5 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:25

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I can not comment yet, but solutions based on joining location to a user path with 'Desktop' have limited appliance because Desktop could and often is being remapped to a non-system drive. To get real location a windows registry should be used... or special functions via ctypes like https://stackoverflow.com/a/626927/7273599

edited May 23 '17 at 12:25

Community

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answered Apr 16 '17 at 09:11

GPCracker

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score 6 · Answer 6 · answered Jan 08 '20 at 12:50

6

All those answers are intrinsecally wrong : they only work for english sessions.

You should check the XDG directories instead of supposing it's always 'Desktop'.

Here's the correct answer: How to get users desktop path in python independent of language install (linux)

answered Jan 08 '20 at 12:50

Salamandar

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This answer is intrinsically wrong: It only works for Linux. :) – johnson Feb 21 '21 at 11:41
True :) I may have been tired and forgot the bit about windows. – Salamandar Feb 25 '21 at 14:55

score 1 · Answer 7 · edited Oct 19 '19 at 07:59

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Try this:

import os
file1 =os.environ["HOMEPATH"] + "\Desktop\myfile.txt"

edited Oct 19 '19 at 07:59

M_S_N

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answered Oct 19 '19 at 07:22

score 0 · Answer 8 · answered Oct 06 '21 at 08:47

Just an addendum to @tpearse accepted answer:

In an embedded environment (c++ programm calling a python environment)

os.path.join(os.environ["HOMEPATH"], "Desktop")

was the only one that worked. Seems like

os.path.expanduser("~/Desktop")

does not return a usable path for the embedded environment (at least not in my one; But some environmental settings in visual studio could be missing in my setup)

score 0 · Answer 9 · answered Jul 29 '22 at 08:26

0

Simple and Elegant Try this to access file in Desktop:

import os
import pathlib
import pandas as pd

desktop = pathlib.Path.home() / 'Desktop' / "Panda's" / 'data'
print(desktop) #check you path correct ?
data = pd.read_csv(os.path.joinn(desktop),'survey_results_public.csv')

Congrants!

answered Jul 29 '22 at 08:26

Develop4Life

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If you clean up your answer (remove pandas / mistyped os.path.joinn that does nothing because of misplaced bracket) you end up with a duplicate answer – johnson Jan 30 '23 at 11:51

How to get Desktop location?

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