How to access remapped special folders using PowerShell?

Question

I remapped/changed the target/location of a few of my special folders using the windows explorer gui. Now some of my powershell scripts broke. I don't want to resort to hard-coding paths, unless I have to, and then, only as a temp fix.

[System.Environment]::GetFolderPath('Desktop') shows the wrong path. [System.Environment]::GetFolderPath('Downloads') doesn't work.

To recreate: Right click on "Downloads" in the win explorer gui, and change target location to d:\downloads. Do the same for Desktop to something like d:\desktop.

According to Get Path To "Links" (AKA Favorites) Folder, there may be a way to P/Invoke SHGetKnownFolderPath, but I am not versed in how to perform that, and botched attempts to date. However, I found Boe Prox' function, https://github.com/proxb/PInvoke/blob/master/Get-KnownFolderPath.ps1, which does use SHGetKnownFolderPath, and that function does not show the remapped values for either desktop or downloads.

How would you access the remapped location using PowerShell?

UPDATE: To narrow things down, this issue seems to only impact Windows 7 (64-bit, 32-bit wasn't tested). The Get-KnownFolderPath.ps1 script reports correctly in Windows 10. PowerShell is v5 in all tests. How would one script access the remapped locations of both operating systems?

Answer 1

You can use the shell32 in that case. Just define the class before that. You can pick the GUID for Downloads and utilize it.

    using System;
    using System.Runtime.InteropServices;

    public static class KnownFolder
    {
        public static readonly Guid AddNewPrograms = new Guid( "de61d971-5ebc-4f02-a3a9-6c82895e5c04" );
        public static readonly Guid AdminTools = new Guid( "724EF170-A42D-4FEF-9F26-B60E846FBA4F" );
        public static readonly Guid AppUpdates = new Guid( "a305ce99-f527-492b-8b1a-7e76fa98d6e4" );
        public static readonly Guid CDBurning = new Guid( "9E52AB10-F80D-49DF-ACB8-4330F5687855" );
        public static readonly Guid ChangeRemovePrograms = new Guid( "df7266ac-9274-4867-8d55-3bd661de872d" );
        public static readonly Guid CommonAdminTools = new Guid( "D0384E7D-BAC3-4797-8F14-CBA229B392B5" );
        public static readonly Guid CommonOEMLinks = new Guid( "C1BAE2D0-10DF-4334-BEDD-7AA20B227A9D" );
        public static readonly Guid CommonPrograms = new Guid( "0139D44E-6AFE-49F2-8690-3DAFCAE6FFB8" );
        public static readonly Guid CommonStartMenu = new Guid( "A4115719-D62E-491D-AA7C-E74B8BE3B067" );
        public static readonly Guid CommonStartup = new Guid( "82A5EA35-D9CD-47C5-9629-E15D2F714E6E" );
        public static readonly Guid CommonTemplates = new Guid( "B94237E7-57AC-4347-9151-B08C6C32D1F7" );
        public static readonly Guid ComputerFolder = new Guid( "0AC0837C-BBF8-452A-850D-79D08E667CA7" );
        public static readonly Guid ConflictFolder = new Guid( "4bfefb45-347d-4006-a5be-ac0cb0567192" );
        public static readonly Guid ConnectionsFolder = new Guid( "6F0CD92B-2E97-45D1-88FF-B0D186B8DEDD" );
        public static readonly Guid Contacts = new Guid( "56784854-C6CB-462b-8169-88E350ACB882" );
        public static readonly Guid ControlPanelFolder = new Guid( "82A74AEB-AEB4-465C-A014-D097EE346D63" );
        public static readonly Guid Cookies = new Guid( "2B0F765D-C0E9-4171-908E-08A611B84FF6" );
        public static readonly Guid Desktop = new Guid( "B4BFCC3A-DB2C-424C-B029-7FE99A87C641" );
        public static readonly Guid Documents = new Guid( "FDD39AD0-238F-46AF-ADB4-6C85480369C7" );
        public static readonly Guid Downloads = new Guid( "374DE290-123F-4565-9164-39C4925E467B" );
        public static readonly Guid Favorites = new Guid( "1777F761-68AD-4D8A-87BD-30B759FA33DD" );
        public static readonly Guid Fonts = new Guid( "FD228CB7-AE11-4AE3-864C-16F3910AB8FE" );
        public static readonly Guid Games = new Guid( "CAC52C1A-B53D-4edc-92D7-6B2E8AC19434" );
        public static readonly Guid GameTasks = new Guid( "054FAE61-4DD8-4787-80B6-090220C4B700" );
        public static readonly Guid History = new Guid( "D9DC8A3B-B784-432E-A781-5A1130A75963" );
        public static readonly Guid InternetCache = new Guid( "352481E8-33BE-4251-BA85-6007CAEDCF9D" );
        public static readonly Guid InternetFolder = new Guid( "4D9F7874-4E0C-4904-967B-40B0D20C3E4B" );
        public static readonly Guid Links = new Guid( "bfb9d5e0-c6a9-404c-b2b2-ae6db6af4968" );
        public static readonly Guid LocalAppData = new Guid( "F1B32785-6FBA-4FCF-9D55-7B8E7F157091" );
        public static readonly Guid LocalAppDataLow = new Guid( "A520A1A4-1780-4FF6-BD18-167343C5AF16" );
        public static readonly Guid LocalizedResourcesDir = new Guid( "2A00375E-224C-49DE-B8D1-440DF7EF3DDC" );
        public static readonly Guid Music = new Guid( "4BD8D571-6D19-48D3-BE97-422220080E43" );
        public static readonly Guid NetHood = new Guid( "C5ABBF53-E17F-4121-8900-86626FC2C973" );
        public static readonly Guid NetworkFolder = new Guid( "D20BEEC4-5CA8-4905-AE3B-BF251EA09B53" );
        public static readonly Guid OriginalImages = new Guid( "2C36C0AA-5812-4b87-BFD0-4CD0DFB19B39" );
        public static readonly Guid PhotoAlbums = new Guid( "69D2CF90-FC33-4FB7-9A0C-EBB0F0FCB43C" );
        public static readonly Guid Pictures = new Guid( "33E28130-4E1E-4676-835A-98395C3BC3BB" );
        public static readonly Guid Playlists = new Guid( "DE92C1C7-837F-4F69-A3BB-86E631204A23" );
        public static readonly Guid PrintersFolder = new Guid( "76FC4E2D-D6AD-4519-A663-37BD56068185" );
        public static readonly Guid PrintHood = new Guid( "9274BD8D-CFD1-41C3-B35E-B13F55A758F4" );
        public static readonly Guid Profile = new Guid( "5E6C858F-0E22-4760-9AFE-EA3317B67173" );
        public static readonly Guid ProgramData = new Guid( "62AB5D82-FDC1-4DC3-A9DD-070D1D495D97" );
        public static readonly Guid ProgramFiles = new Guid( "905e63b6-c1bf-494e-b29c-65b732d3d21a" );
        public static readonly Guid ProgramFilesX64 = new Guid( "6D809377-6AF0-444b-8957-A3773F02200E" );
        public static readonly Guid ProgramFilesX86 = new Guid( "7C5A40EF-A0FB-4BFC-874A-C0F2E0B9FA8E" );
        public static readonly Guid ProgramFilesCommon = new Guid( "F7F1ED05-9F6D-47A2-AAAE-29D317C6F066" );
        public static readonly Guid ProgramFilesCommonX64 = new Guid( "6365D5A7-0F0D-45E5-87F6-0DA56B6A4F7D" );
        public static readonly Guid ProgramFilesCommonX86 = new Guid( "DE974D24-D9C6-4D3E-BF91-F4455120B917" );
        public static readonly Guid Programs = new Guid( "A77F5D77-2E2B-44C3-A6A2-ABA601054A51" );
        public static readonly Guid Public = new Guid( "DFDF76A2-C82A-4D63-906A-5644AC457385" );
        public static readonly Guid PublicDesktop = new Guid( "C4AA340D-F20F-4863-AFEF-F87EF2E6BA25" );
        public static readonly Guid PublicDocuments = new Guid( "ED4824AF-DCE4-45A8-81E2-FC7965083634" );
        public static readonly Guid PublicDownloads = new Guid( "3D644C9B-1FB8-4f30-9B45-F670235F79C0" );
        public static readonly Guid PublicGameTasks = new Guid( "DEBF2536-E1A8-4c59-B6A2-414586476AEA" );
        public static readonly Guid PublicMusic = new Guid( "3214FAB5-9757-4298-BB61-92A9DEAA44FF" );
        public static readonly Guid PublicPictures = new Guid( "B6EBFB86-6907-413C-9AF7-4FC2ABF07CC5" );
        public static readonly Guid PublicVideos = new Guid( "2400183A-6185-49FB-A2D8-4A392A602BA3" );
        public static readonly Guid QuickLaunch = new Guid( "52a4f021-7b75-48a9-9f6b-4b87a210bc8f" );
        public static readonly Guid Recent = new Guid( "AE50C081-EBD2-438A-8655-8A092E34987A" );
        public static readonly Guid RecycleBinFolder = new Guid( "B7534046-3ECB-4C18-BE4E-64CD4CB7D6AC" );
        public static readonly Guid ResourceDir = new Guid( "8AD10C31-2ADB-4296-A8F7-E4701232C972" );
        public static readonly Guid RoamingAppData = new Guid( "3EB685DB-65F9-4CF6-A03A-E3EF65729F3D" );
        public static readonly Guid SampleMusic = new Guid( "B250C668-F57D-4EE1-A63C-290EE7D1AA1F" );
        public static readonly Guid SamplePictures = new Guid( "C4900540-2379-4C75-844B-64E6FAF8716B" );
        public static readonly Guid SamplePlaylists = new Guid( "15CA69B3-30EE-49C1-ACE1-6B5EC372AFB5" );
        public static readonly Guid SampleVideos = new Guid( "859EAD94-2E85-48AD-A71A-0969CB56A6CD" );
        public static readonly Guid SavedGames = new Guid( "4C5C32FF-BB9D-43b0-B5B4-2D72E54EAAA4" );
        public static readonly Guid SavedSearches = new Guid( "7d1d3a04-debb-4115-95cf-2f29da2920da" );
        public static readonly Guid SEARCH_CSC = new Guid( "ee32e446-31ca-4aba-814f-a5ebd2fd6d5e" );
        public static readonly Guid SEARCH_MAPI = new Guid( "98ec0e18-2098-4d44-8644-66979315a281" );
        public static readonly Guid SearchHome = new Guid( "190337d1-b8ca-4121-a639-6d472d16972a" );
        public static readonly Guid SendTo = new Guid( "8983036C-27C0-404B-8F08-102D10DCFD74" );
        public static readonly Guid SidebarDefaultParts = new Guid( "7B396E54-9EC5-4300-BE0A-2482EBAE1A26" );
        public static readonly Guid SidebarParts = new Guid( "A75D362E-50FC-4fb7-AC2C-A8BEAA314493" );
        public static readonly Guid StartMenu = new Guid( "625B53C3-AB48-4EC1-BA1F-A1EF4146FC19" );
        public static readonly Guid Startup = new Guid( "B97D20BB-F46A-4C97-BA10-5E3608430854" );
        public static readonly Guid SyncManagerFolder = new Guid( "43668BF8-C14E-49B2-97C9-747784D784B7" );
        public static readonly Guid SyncResultsFolder = new Guid( "289a9a43-be44-4057-a41b-587a76d7e7f9" );
        public static readonly Guid SyncSetupFolder = new Guid( "0F214138-B1D3-4a90-BBA9-27CBC0C5389A" );
        public static readonly Guid System = new Guid( "1AC14E77-02E7-4E5D-B744-2EB1AE5198B7" );
        public static readonly Guid SystemX86 = new Guid( "D65231B0-B2F1-4857-A4CE-A8E7C6EA7D27" );
        public static readonly Guid Templates = new Guid( "A63293E8-664E-48DB-A079-DF759E0509F7" );
        public static readonly Guid TreeProperties = new Guid( "5b3749ad-b49f-49c1-83eb-15370fbd4882" );
        public static readonly Guid UserProfiles = new Guid( "0762D272-C50A-4BB0-A382-697DCD729B80" );
        public static readonly Guid UsersFiles = new Guid( "f3ce0f7c-4901-4acc-8648-d5d44b04ef8f" );
        public static readonly Guid Videos = new Guid( "18989B1D-99B5-455B-841C-AB7C74E4DDFC" );
        public static readonly Guid Windows = new Guid( "F38BF404-1D43-42F2-9305-67DE0B28FC23" );
    }

    public class shell32
    {
        [DllImport("shell32.dll")]
        private static extern int SHGetKnownFolderPath(
             [MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPStruct)] 
             Guid rfid,
             uint dwFlags,
             IntPtr hToken,
             out IntPtr pszPath
         );

         public static string GetKnownFolderPath(Guid rfid)
         {
            IntPtr pszPath;
            if (SHGetKnownFolderPath(rfid, 0, IntPtr.Zero, out pszPath) != 0)
                return ""; // add whatever error handling you fancy
            string path = Marshal.PtrToStringUni(pszPath);
            Marshal.FreeCoTaskMem(pszPath);
            return path;
         }
    }

"@
## Calling the method
[shell32]::GetKnownFolderPath([KnownFolder]::Downloads)

Hope it helps...