python - Finding the user's “Downloads” folder

Question

I already found this question that suggests to use os.path.expanduser(path) to get the user\'s home directory.

I would like to achieve the same with the

Answer 1

This fairly simple solution (expanded from this reddit post) worked for me

import os

def get_download_path():
    """Returns the default downloads path for linux or windows"""
    if os.name == 'nt':
        import winreg
        sub_key = r'SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders'
        downloads_guid = '{374DE290-123F-4565-9164-39C4925E467B}'
        with winreg.OpenKey(winreg.HKEY_CURRENT_USER, sub_key) as key:
            location = winreg.QueryValueEx(key, downloads_guid)[0]
        return location
    else:
        return os.path.join(os.path.expanduser('~'), 'downloads')

• The GUID can be obtained from Microsoft's KNOWNFOLDERID docs
• This can be expanded to work more generically other directories