What is the environment variable for the All Users Desktop path that works across all versions of Windows?

Question

I'm trying to write a batch file that can copy a file from my computer to all computers in a list. It needs to be copied to the AllUsers Desktop (I'll use a domain admin account to run the batch file).

On my Win7 system, the %ALLUSERSPROFILE% returns C:\ProgramData. Is there a variable that returns the AllUsers Desktop path across every version of Windows? I have a mix of XP, Vista, and Win7.

score 15 · Answer 1 · edited Jan 30 '13 at 17:06

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It is %public% in Windows 7...

edited Jan 30 '13 at 17:06

akjoshi

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answered Jan 30 '13 at 16:45

Kyle P

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Necro: `%public%\Desktop`, to be precise. – browly Jun 23 '17 at 22:26

score 3 · Answer 2 · answered May 13 '18 at 12:31

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%public% works for Windows 10 and Windows 2011 Server and up

%ALLUSERSPROFILE% is used in Windows XP

But, you can look to see what the available variables are by running "SET" from a command prompt

answered May 13 '18 at 12:31

Robert Tozzi

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score 2 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 11:54

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There's no environment variable holding desktop path, but with this post you can see how to get it in batch (answers are for current user desktop, you'll need to adapt them for all users desktop

edited May 23 '17 at 11:54

Community

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answered May 18 '11 at 00:32

CharlesB

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score 1 · Answer 4 · answered Jul 29 '14 at 13:51

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in vista, 7, 8

%userprofile%\..\Default\Desktop

answered Jul 29 '14 at 13:51

user3887965

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What is the environment variable for the All Users Desktop path that works across all versions of Windows?

4 Answers4