Solved Paint location in W11?


blackroseMD1

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I'm trying to assign Paint to one of the macro keys on my keyboard and can't find the location of the actual file anywhere. Does anyone happen to know where it's located in Windows 11?

Thanks.
 
Windows Build/Version
22000.132

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Intel Core i9-12900K
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte Z790 Aorus Elite AX DDR4
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    128 GB G.Skill Trident Z RGB DDR4-4000
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    1 TB PNY XLR8 NVMe SSD (Boot drive), 960 GB ADATA SSD, 1 TB Samsung SSD, 2 TB Samsung SSD, 2 TB Samsung SSD, 2 TB Crucial P5 NVMe SSD, 10 TB WD MyBook external HDD, 10 TB Seagate external HDD, 15 TB WD MyBook external HDD
    PSU
    EVGA Supernova 1600 P+ 1600w
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Directory of c:\Program Files\WindowsApps\Microsoft.Paint_10.2108.1.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe\PaintApp
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavilion
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 7 5700G
    Motherboard
    Erica6
    Memory
    Micron Technology DDR4-3200 16GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060
    Sound Card
    Realtek ALC671
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung SyncMaster U28E590
    Screen Resolution
    3840 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    SAMSUNG MZVLQ1T0HALB-000H1

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Intel Core i9-12900K
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte Z790 Aorus Elite AX DDR4
    Memory
    128 GB G.Skill Trident Z RGB DDR4-4000
    Graphics Card(s)
    Asus ROG Strix RTX 4090 OC Edition
    Sound Card
    Integrated
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung Odyssey G9 49" Super Ultrawide
    Screen Resolution
    5120x1440 240Hz
    Hard Drives
    1 TB PNY XLR8 NVMe SSD (Boot drive), 960 GB ADATA SSD, 1 TB Samsung SSD, 2 TB Samsung SSD, 2 TB Samsung SSD, 2 TB Crucial P5 NVMe SSD, 10 TB WD MyBook external HDD, 10 TB Seagate external HDD, 15 TB WD MyBook external HDD
    PSU
    EVGA Supernova 1600 P+ 1600w
    Case
    EVGA DG-86
    Cooling
    Corsair H150i Elite LCD
    Keyboard
    Corsair K100 RGB
    Mouse
    Razer Naga Pro v2 wireless
    Internet Speed
    Gigabit
    Browser
    Chrome
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
You are very welcome!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavilion
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 7 5700G
    Motherboard
    Erica6
    Memory
    Micron Technology DDR4-3200 16GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060
    Sound Card
    Realtek ALC671
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung SyncMaster U28E590
    Screen Resolution
    3840 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    SAMSUNG MZVLQ1T0HALB-000H1
most of the stock apps in W11 are stored under C:\Program Files\WindowsApps ..

1629339169090.png

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Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Microsoft® Windows™ 11 Enterprise Edition 64 Bit
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo® ThinkPad™ Edge
    CPU
    Intel® Core i3 380M
    Motherboard
    Intel® 0578K6A
    Memory
    Hynix® 4GB Dual-Channel DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    OnBoard Intel® HD Graphics
    Sound Card
    OnBoard High Definition Audio Device
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ThinkPad™ LCD
    Screen Resolution
    1366 x 768
    Hard Drives
    Seagate® SATA-III 500GB
    PSU
    Lenovo® Standard PSU
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    Lenovo® Standard Laptop
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    Lenovo® OnBoard Standard
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    Lenovo® USB Keyboard
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    Lenovo® Optical USB
    Internet Speed
    Home Fixed 100Mbps
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    Google® Chrome™
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    Microsoft® Windows Defender™
    Other Info
    Not Applicable (NA)
most of the stock apps in W11 are stored under C:\Program Files\WindowsApps ..
I had forgotten to have hidden items shown, so I didn't even see that folder until my question was answered. I appreciate the heads up.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Intel Core i9-12900K
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte Z790 Aorus Elite AX DDR4
    Memory
    128 GB G.Skill Trident Z RGB DDR4-4000
    Graphics Card(s)
    Asus ROG Strix RTX 4090 OC Edition
    Sound Card
    Integrated
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung Odyssey G9 49" Super Ultrawide
    Screen Resolution
    5120x1440 240Hz
    Hard Drives
    1 TB PNY XLR8 NVMe SSD (Boot drive), 960 GB ADATA SSD, 1 TB Samsung SSD, 2 TB Samsung SSD, 2 TB Samsung SSD, 2 TB Crucial P5 NVMe SSD, 10 TB WD MyBook external HDD, 10 TB Seagate external HDD, 15 TB WD MyBook external HDD
    PSU
    EVGA Supernova 1600 P+ 1600w
    Case
    EVGA DG-86
    Cooling
    Corsair H150i Elite LCD
    Keyboard
    Corsair K100 RGB
    Mouse
    Razer Naga Pro v2 wireless
    Internet Speed
    Gigabit
    Browser
    Chrome
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
here ..

most of the stock apps in W11 are stored under C:\Program Files\WindowsApps ..

View attachment 5851

Edge
Office
Paint
People
Instagram
News
Whatsapp
Twitter
Weather
Help
Power Automate
Screen Sketch
Skype
Alarms
Photos
Maps
Calculator
Camera
Videos
Your Phone
Terminal
Sound Recorder
Notepad
I had forgotten to have hidden items shown, so I didn't even see that folder until my question was answered. I appreciate the heads up.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Microsoft® Windows™ 11 Enterprise Edition 64 Bit
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo® ThinkPad™ Edge
    CPU
    Intel® Core i3 380M
    Motherboard
    Intel® 0578K6A
    Memory
    Hynix® 4GB Dual-Channel DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    OnBoard Intel® HD Graphics
    Sound Card
    OnBoard High Definition Audio Device
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ThinkPad™ LCD
    Screen Resolution
    1366 x 768
    Hard Drives
    Seagate® SATA-III 500GB
    PSU
    Lenovo® Standard PSU
    Case
    Lenovo® Standard Laptop
    Cooling
    Lenovo® OnBoard Standard
    Keyboard
    Lenovo® USB Keyboard
    Mouse
    Lenovo® Optical USB
    Internet Speed
    Home Fixed 100Mbps
    Browser
    Google® Chrome™
    Antivirus
    Microsoft® Windows Defender™
    Other Info
    Not Applicable (NA)
Got it. Thanks!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Intel Core i9-12900K
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte Z790 Aorus Elite AX DDR4
    Memory
    128 GB G.Skill Trident Z RGB DDR4-4000
    Graphics Card(s)
    Asus ROG Strix RTX 4090 OC Edition
    Sound Card
    Integrated
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung Odyssey G9 49" Super Ultrawide
    Screen Resolution
    5120x1440 240Hz
    Hard Drives
    1 TB PNY XLR8 NVMe SSD (Boot drive), 960 GB ADATA SSD, 1 TB Samsung SSD, 2 TB Samsung SSD, 2 TB Samsung SSD, 2 TB Crucial P5 NVMe SSD, 10 TB WD MyBook external HDD, 10 TB Seagate external HDD, 15 TB WD MyBook external HDD
    PSU
    EVGA Supernova 1600 P+ 1600w
    Case
    EVGA DG-86
    Cooling
    Corsair H150i Elite LCD
    Keyboard
    Corsair K100 RGB
    Mouse
    Razer Naga Pro v2 wireless
    Internet Speed
    Gigabit
    Browser
    Chrome
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
the said folder is protected for users by default, accessing the contents is not allowed unless overriding the permissions :)

but becareful, altering the contents may make the system unstable and re-installing from Windows Store also will be troublesome .. unless re-installing the OS itself, make a copy somewhere before changing / deleting ..
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Microsoft® Windows™ 11 Enterprise Edition 64 Bit
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo® ThinkPad™ Edge
    CPU
    Intel® Core i3 380M
    Motherboard
    Intel® 0578K6A
    Memory
    Hynix® 4GB Dual-Channel DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    OnBoard Intel® HD Graphics
    Sound Card
    OnBoard High Definition Audio Device
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ThinkPad™ LCD
    Screen Resolution
    1366 x 768
    Hard Drives
    Seagate® SATA-III 500GB
    PSU
    Lenovo® Standard PSU
    Case
    Lenovo® Standard Laptop
    Cooling
    Lenovo® OnBoard Standard
    Keyboard
    Lenovo® USB Keyboard
    Mouse
    Lenovo® Optical USB
    Internet Speed
    Home Fixed 100Mbps
    Browser
    Google® Chrome™
    Antivirus
    Microsoft® Windows Defender™
    Other Info
    Not Applicable (NA)
note to self:
where mspaint
%localappdata%\Microsoft\WindowsApps\mspaint.exe
The code listed by you, welp, is exactly what I needed to add to a graphics program I am currently using for editing pic images.
The code automatically opens paint when applied directly to the 'WIN-R' combination or as in the program I am using: Honyview 5.50
Thank you for your contribution.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Home Grown is the best.
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 7 3700X 8-Core Processor, AMD64 Family 23 Mod
    Motherboard
    ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC. ROG STRIX B550-E GAMING, ver Rev X.0x, s/n redacted
    Memory
    RAM: 64GB (memory is too vague)
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GFORCE GTX 1060 6GB (CAUSE IT STILL WORKS DANMED GOOD)
    Sound Card
    built into motherboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung ???
    Screen Resolution
    1920X1080
    Hard Drives
    Many SSD's
    PSU
    Corsair CM750X
    Case
    NZXT
    Cooling
    Corsair
    Keyboard
    Razer BlackWidow Ultimatev 2016 edition
    Mouse
    Red Dragon M908
    Internet Speed
    Xfinity stupid fast
    Browser
    FireFox 117.0 (64-bit)
    Antivirus
    ESET Security, Enabled and Updated
    Other Info
    Between the power supply and the water cooler, it makes a great foot warmer on a cold winter's day.
Directory of c:\Program Files\WindowsApps\Microsoft.Paint_10.2108.1.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe\PaintApp
For those that this didn't help, the full line is:
C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\Microsoft.Paint_11.2304.33.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe\PaintApp\mspaint.exe
I needed that for a 3rd party program that edits .jpgs now and then. I spent the better part of an hour trying to get access to that folder, when all I needed to do was have the FULL line.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
For those that this didn't help, the full line is:
C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\Microsoft.Paint_11.2304.33.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe\PaintApp\mspaint.exe
I needed that for a 3rd party program that edits .jpgs now and then. I spent the better part of an hour trying to get access to that folder, when all I needed to do was have the FULL line.
I can run "C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\Microsoft.Paint_11.2304.33.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe\PaintApp\mspaint.exe"

However, I was blocked when I tried to access the folder "c:\Program Files\WindowsApps\".

I found that: %localappdata%\Microsoft\WindowsApps\
takes me to: "C:\Users\MisterEd\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WindowsApps\

Then the path to paint is:
"C:\Users\MisterEd\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WindowsApps\Microsoft.Paint_8wekyb3d8bbwe\mspaint.exe"

Note "MisterEd" will change depending upon your user name.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro 23H2
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS TUF Gaming A15 (2022)
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 7 6800H with Radeon 680M GPU (486MB RAM)
    Memory
    Micron DDR5-4800 (2400MHz) 16GB (2 x 8GB)
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA RTX 3060 Laptop (6GB RAM)
    Sound Card
    n/a
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15.6-inch
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080 300Hz
    Hard Drives
    2 x Samsung 980 (1TB M.2 NVME SSD)
    PSU
    n/a
    Mouse
    Wireless Mouse M510
    Internet Speed
    1200Mbps/250Mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Malwarebytes
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro 23H2
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom build
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 7 3700X
    Motherboard
    ASUS PRIME X370-PRO
    Memory
    G.SKILL Flare X 32GB (2x16GB) DDR4
    Graphics card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-RTX3060TI-08G-V2-GAMING (RTX 3060-Ti, 8GB RAM)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung S23A300B (23-in LED)
    Screen Resolution
    1080p 60Hz
    Hard Drives
    2TB XPG SX8200 Pro (M2. PCIe SSD) || 2TB Intel 660P (M2. PCIe SSD) ||
    PSU
    Corsair RM750x (750 watts)
    Case
    Cooler Master MasterCase 5
    Cooling
    Corsair H60 AIO water cooler
    Mouse
    Logitech K350 (wireless)
    Keyboard
    Logitech M510 (wireless)
    Internet Speed
    1200 Mbps down / 200 Mbps up
    Browser
    Firefox, Edge, Chrome
    Antivirus
    Malwarebytes (Premium)
    Other Info
    ASUS Blu-ray Burner BW-16D1HT (SATA) || Western Digital Elements 12TB USB 3.0 external hard drive used with Acronis True Image backup software || HP OfficeJet Pro 6975 Printer/Scanner
I can run "C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\Microsoft.Paint_11.2304.33.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe\PaintApp\mspaint.exe"

However, I was blocked when I tried to access the folder "c:\Program Files\WindowsApps\".

I found that: %localappdata%\Microsoft\WindowsApps\
takes me to: "C:\Users\MisterEd\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WindowsApps\

Then the path to paint is:
"C:\Users\MisterEd\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WindowsApps\Microsoft.Paint_8wekyb3d8bbwe\mspaint.exe"

Note "MisterEd" will change depending upon your user name.
I cannot run
"C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\Microsoft.Paint_11.2304.33.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe\PaintApp\mspaint.exe" directly.
I suspect that is so for the same reason that I cannot view "C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\" and below.

But I can execute it indirectly by combining the environment variable reference and the remainder of the direct path that I cannot access...
%localappdata%\Microsoft\WindowsApps\Microsoft.Paint_8wekyb3d8bbwe\mspaint.exe
I do not know for sure but I suspect that this is Microsoft's intended method of user access for "C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\"
This method also has the advantage of removing the username from the path making it universal.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro 23H2
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron 16 Plus 7620
    CPU
    12th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-12700H 2.30 GHz
    Motherboard
    stock
    Memory
    16.0 GB (15.7 GB usable)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    16'' UHD
    Screen Resolution
    3072 x 1920

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