Environment.SpecialFolder Enumeration (System)

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Microsoft Visual Studio 2005/.NET Framework 2.0

Other versions are also available for the following:

.NET Framework Class Library

Environment.SpecialFolder Enumeration

Specifies enumerated constants used to retrieve directory paths to system special folders.

Namespace: System
Assembly: mscorlib (in mscorlib.dll)

Syntax

Visual Basic (Declaration)

<ComVisibleAttribute(True)> _
Public Enumeration SpecialFolder

Visual Basic (Usage)

Dim instance As SpecialFolder

[ComVisibleAttribute(true)] 
public enum SpecialFolder

C++

[ComVisibleAttribute(true)] 
public enum class SpecialFolder

/** @attribute ComVisibleAttribute(true) */ 
public enum SpecialFolder

JScript

ComVisibleAttribute(true) 
public enum SpecialFolder

Members

Member name

Description

ApplicationData

The directory that serves as a common repository for application-specific data for the current roaming user.

A roaming user works on more than one computer on a network. A roaming user's profile is kept on a server on the network and is loaded onto a system when the user logs on.

CommonApplicationData

The directory that serves as a common repository for application-specific data that is used by all users.

CommonProgramFiles

The directory for components that are shared across applications.

Cookies

The directory that serves as a common repository for Internet cookies.

Desktop

The logical Desktop rather than the physical file system location.

DesktopDirectory

The directory used to physically store file objects on the desktop.

Do not confuse this directory with the desktop folder itself, which is a virtual folder.

Favorites

The directory that serves as a common repository for the user's favorite items.

History

The directory that serves as a common repository for Internet history items.

InternetCache

The directory that serves as a common repository for temporary Internet files.

LocalApplicationData

The directory that serves as a common repository for application-specific data that is used by the current, non-roaming user.

MyComputer

The "My Computer" folder.

Note
The MyComputer constant always yields the empty string ("") because no path is defined for the My Computer folder.

MyDocuments

The "My Documents" folder.

MyMusic

The "My Music" folder.

MyPictures

The "My Pictures" folder.

Personal

The directory that serves as a common repository for documents.

ProgramFiles

The program files directory.

Programs

The directory that contains the user's program groups.

Recent

The directory that contains the user's most recently used documents.

SendTo

The directory that contains the Send To menu items.

StartMenu

The directory that contains the Start menu items.

Startup

The directory that corresponds to the user's Startup program group.

The system starts these programs whenever a user logs on or starts Windows NT or later, or starts Windows 98.

System

The System directory.

Templates

The directory that serves as a common repository for document templates.

Remarks

The system special folders are folders such as Program Files, Programs, System, or Startup, which contain common information. Special folders are set by default by the system, or explicitly by the user, when installing a version of Windows.

The GetFolderPath method uses these enumerated constants to designate the special folder path to retrieve.

For more information about special folders, see the CSIDL Values topic at http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en-us/shellcc/platform/Shell/reference/enums/csidl.asp.

Platforms

Windows 98, Windows 2000 SP4, Windows CE, Windows Millennium Edition, Windows Mobile for Pocket PC, Windows Mobile for Smartphone, Windows Server 2003, Windows XP Media Center Edition, Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, Windows XP SP2, Windows XP Starter Edition

The .NET Framework does not support all versions of every platform. For a list of the supported versions, see System Requirements.

Version Information

.NET Framework

Supported in: 2.0, 1.1, 1.0

.NET Compact Framework

Supported in: 2.0

Reference

System Namespace