Accessing application data folder path for all Windows users

Question

How do I find the application data folder path for all Windows users from C#?

How do I find this for the current user and other Windows users?

Answer 1

Environment.SpecialFolder.ApplicationData and Environment.SpecialFolder.CommonApplicationData

Answer 2

This will give you the path to the "All users" application data folder.

string path = Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.CommonApplicationData);

Answer 3

Adapted from @Derrick's answer. The following code will find the path to Local AppData for each user on the computer and put the paths in a List of strings.

        const string regKeyFolders = @"HKEY_USERS\<SID>\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders";
        const string regValueAppData = @"Local AppData";
        string[] keys = Registry.Users.GetSubKeyNames();
        List<String> paths = new List<String>();

        foreach (string sid in keys)
        {
            string appDataPath = Registry.GetValue(regKeyFolders.Replace("<SID>", sid), regValueAppData, null) as string;
            if (appDataPath != null)
            {
                paths.Add(appDataPath);
            }
        }

Answer 4

The AppData folder for each user is stored in the registry.

Using this path:

const string regKeyFolders = @"HKEY_USERS\<SID>\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders";
const string regValueAppData = @"AppData";

Given a variable sid string containing the users sid, you can get their AppData path like this:

string path=Registry.GetValue(regKeyFolders.Replace("<SID>", sid), regValueAppData, null) as string;