This post provides you with the list of User Shell Folders in Windows 10/11 and their default paths. If you’ve moved a shell folder earlier, you can restore it to the default location via the folder properties Location tab in most cases.
However, there are situations where the Location tab option can’t be used — i.e. when two special folders such as Music and Videos become merged and point to the same location. In that case, clicking Restore Default in the folder properties Location tab causes an error.
In such cases, resetting the respective shell folder path(s) in the registry is the only possible solution. This article provides the .reg files needed to revert to the default shell folder paths quickly and also includes the list of shell folders and their default path for your reference. This article applies to Windows 10 and Windows 11.
Reset Shell Folder Paths to Default using Registry files
- w10_usf_defaults_hkcu.zip – Windows 10/11 Shell Folder Reset defaults for HKCU*
- w10_usf_defaults_hklm.zip – Windows 10/11 Shell Folder Reset defaults for HKLM*
- w10_usf_clear_override_hkcu.zip – Windows 10/11 Clear the Overriding registry values for HKCU (See Table 2)
* HKCU is short for HKEY_CURRENT_USER & HKLM is HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
List of Shell folders & their default locations in Windows 10/11
User Shell Folders (Per-user)
For the current user account, the special folder paths are stored in the following registry key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders
| Shell Folder Name (Value type: REG_EXPAND_SZ) |
Location |
| {374DE290-123F-4565-9164-39C4925E467B} | %USERPROFILE%\Downloads |
| AppData | %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Roaming |
| Cache | %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\INetCache |
| Cookies | %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\INetCookies |
| Desktop | %USERPROFILE%\Desktop |
| Favorites | %USERPROFILE%\Favorites |
| History | %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\History |
| Local AppData | %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local |
| My Music | %USERPROFILE%\Music |
| My Pictures | %USERPROFILE%\Pictures |
| My Video | %USERPROFILE%\Videos |
| NetHood | %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Network Shortcuts |
| Personal | %USERPROFILE%\Documents |
| PrintHood | %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Printer Shortcuts |
| Programs | %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs |
| Recent | %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Recent |
| SendTo | %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\SendTo |
| Start Menu | %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu |
| Startup | %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup |
| Templates | %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Templates |
Note: {374DE290-123F-4565-9164-39C4925E467B} represents the Downloads folder.
Overriding registry values
The following items do not exist in a clean install of Windows 10 and Windows 11. They’re created only if you redirect those folders to Microsoft OneDrive or DropBox. If the following values exist, the location defined in the following values takes precedence. In case of any conflict, the following values can be deleted so that the defaults (above) are used.
To clear or reset to defaults all of these values below, download w10_usf_clear_override_hkcu.zip.
Logoff and login back for the change to take effect.
| Value Name (Overrides) | Shell folder whose path is Overridden |
| {3B193882-D3AD-4EAB-965A-69829D1FB59F} | Saved Pictures |
| {AB5FB87B-7CE2-4F83-915D-550846C9537B} | Camera Roll |
| {B7BEDE81-DF94-4682-A7D8-57A52620B86F} | Screenshots |
| {F42EE2D3-909F-4907-8871-4C22FC0BF756} | Local Documents |
| {7D83EE9B-2244-4E70-B1F5-5393042AF1E4} | Local Downloads |
| {A0C69A99-21C8-4671-8703-7934162FCF1D} | Local Music |
| {0DDD015D-B06C-45D5-8C4C-F59713854639} | Local Pictures |
| {35286A68-3C57-41A1-BBB1-0EAE73D76C95} | Local Videos |
User Shell Folders (Per-system)
The common special folder (applicable for all users) paths are stored in the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders
| Shell Folder Name — Value type: REG_EXPAND_SZ | Location |
| {3D644C9B-1FB8-4f30-9B45-F670235F79C0} | %PUBLIC%\Downloads |
| Common AppData | %ProgramData% |
| Common Desktop | %PUBLIC%\Desktop |
| Common Documents | %PUBLIC%\Documents |
| Common Programs | %ProgramData%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs |
| Common Start Menu | %ProgramData%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu |
| Common Startup | %ProgramData%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup |
| Common Templates | %ProgramData%\Microsoft\Windows\Templates |
| CommonMusic | %PUBLIC%\Music |
| CommonPictures | %PUBLIC%\Pictures |
| CommonVideo | %PUBLIC%\Videos |
Note:
{3D644C9B-1FB8-4f30-9B45-F670235F79C0}value represents the Public Downloads folder.- The values
CommonMusic,CommonPictures,CommonVideoare single words (no space in them.)
RELATED: [Fix] Accidentally Merged Music, Pictures, Videos or Downloads Folders
(Last reviewed on July 28, 2022. Last tested on Windows 10 v21H2 and Windows 11 v21H2.)