Quand je start `bash` on Windows Subsystem for Linux, it drops me in the directory
```
/mnt/c/Users/
```
Quand je `ls` this directory, Je vois the directories `Desktop`, `Documents`, etc. that I can see are in `C:\Users\` using the Windows Explorateur de fichiers. Since this is where the `bash` program started, Je m'attendais à this is my home directory, but when I type either `cd` or `cd ~` I am brought to
```
/home/
```
which contains my `.bashrc`, `.profile` etc. file which I would expect to find in my home directory in a Linux box. De plus, entering `cd ../..` à partir de là I can see the directories `bin`, `etc` and so on, again as expected on a Linux box.
J'ai two questions regarding all this:
- What exactly is `/mnt/c/Users/` compared with `C:\Users\`? It seems they are one in the same---so what is `/mnt/c/`?
- Comment puis-je view the files in `/home/` using the Windows Explorateur de fichiers? Non pas que j'en aie vraiment envie---j'essaie juste de comprendre how Windows is organizing this Subsystem for Linux thing.
Quel est le répertoire personnel sur Windows Subsystem for Linux ?
Re: Quel est le répertoire personnel sur Windows Subsystem for Linux ?
In the latest versions [2025 WSL2], the système de fichiers is accessed from:
`# \\wsl.localhost\
shortcut:
# \\wsl$\:
ex:
\\wsl$\Ubuntu
```
You can also find this path by starting the distro then running `$ wslpath -w $HOME`
The files themselves seem to be stored within a .vhdx file in a similar location to 2020's solution.
```
%LOCALAPPDATA%\wsl\\ext4.vhdx
```
For older WSL2 installs [2020] it would be a file like:
```
%LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages\CanonicalGroupLimited.UbuntuonWindows_79rhkp1fndgsc\LocalState\ext4.vhdx
```
For example with Debian the file would be a file that is an ext4 virtual disk:
```
%LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages\YourDistroName-ID\LocalState, vous pouvez voir a nom de fichierd ext4.vhdx
```
You can find the exact filenames by referencing the [registry](https://stackoverflow.com/a/51576305/32453), ex: powershell:
```
(Get-ChildItem HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Lxss | ForEach-Object {Get-ItemProperty $_.PSPath}) | select DistributionName,BasePath,VhdFileName
```
Also useful if a distro isn't installed in the standard directory, doesn't seem possible to get using `wsl` command from the command prompt.
Previously, in 2018, The root Linux path was related to which distribution you had installed from the Microsoft Store rather than one global path; for Ubuntu, it was located at:
```
%LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages\CanonicalGroupLimited.UbuntuonWindows_79rhkp1fndgsc\LocalState\rootfs
```
but with the files stored directly on the NTFS système de fichiers.
`# \\wsl.localhost\
shortcut:
# \\wsl$\:
ex:
\\wsl$\Ubuntu
```
You can also find this path by starting the distro then running `$ wslpath -w $HOME`
The files themselves seem to be stored within a .vhdx file in a similar location to 2020's solution.
```
%LOCALAPPDATA%\wsl\\ext4.vhdx
```
For older WSL2 installs [2020] it would be a file like:
```
%LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages\CanonicalGroupLimited.UbuntuonWindows_79rhkp1fndgsc\LocalState\ext4.vhdx
```
For example with Debian the file would be a file that is an ext4 virtual disk:
```
%LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages\YourDistroName-ID\LocalState, vous pouvez voir a nom de fichierd ext4.vhdx
```
You can find the exact filenames by referencing the [registry](https://stackoverflow.com/a/51576305/32453), ex: powershell:
```
(Get-ChildItem HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Lxss | ForEach-Object {Get-ItemProperty $_.PSPath}) | select DistributionName,BasePath,VhdFileName
```
Also useful if a distro isn't installed in the standard directory, doesn't seem possible to get using `wsl` command from the command prompt.
Previously, in 2018, The root Linux path was related to which distribution you had installed from the Microsoft Store rather than one global path; for Ubuntu, it was located at:
```
%LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages\CanonicalGroupLimited.UbuntuonWindows_79rhkp1fndgsc\LocalState\rootfs
```
but with the files stored directly on the NTFS système de fichiers.