How can I get the path of a Windows “special folder” for a specific user?

Question

Inside a service, what is the best way to determine a special folder path (e.g., \"My Documents\") for a specific user? SHGetFolderPath allows you to pass in a token, so I a

Answer 1

This information is stored in the registry in the key "HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-21-616815238-485949776-2992451252-3228\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders".

The "S-1-5-21-616815238-485949776-2992451252-3218" is the GUID of the user. You need to get this GUID to find the corresponding key and read it.

In this example they use SHGetFolderPath function you mention and there is a list with all special folders which might be helpful.

NOTE: Microsoft discourages to use the registry key, since it is still there just for backward compatibility