Where are microsoft shortcuts stored

I don't mean right click on a shortcut to find the exe location. I mean the actual windows folder where all the shortcuts are listed.

Could do with help on this. I did find C:\Users\User\Desktop. I tried renaiming it _Desktop but when I rebooted the desktop icons are still there.

Pablo56 said:

I don't mean right click on a shortcut to find the exe location. I mean the actual windows folder where all the shortcuts are listed.

Could do with help on this.

Click to expand...

If you mean the shortcuts on the Start menu's All apps list, then there are two locations. One is user-specific, the other is for all users.

C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs
%ProgramData%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs

Pablo56 said:

Could do with help on this. I did find C:\Users\User\Desktop. I tried renaiming it _Desktop but when I rebooted the desktop icons are still there.

Click to expand...

I see you've edited and added to the question since I replied. There are also two desktops, one for the user and an all users desktop. Shortcuts on the desktop created when installing programs are often put in the all users desktop.

C:\Users\Public\Desktop

I found C:\Users\User\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs
There are some desktop icons but not a list that resembels my desktop.

I do have C:\Users\User\Desktop [no file extension] all the shortcuts are listed there. I renamed that _Desktop but that did not do anything.

I am a home user. There is only me. and no name listed.
Sorry for adding. I am talking on the actual screen desktops not the start menu.

What exactly are you trying to achieve?

I need to take my PC to a shop to have it repaired. I was hoping to rename the folder and all the icons would dissapear apart from some I would have on the screen. I don't want someone opening up my private documents by clicking on a desktop. I don't want to delete them and have the trouble of creating them again.

You can simply cut-paste (move) them to a USB flash drive and restore them afterwards. No matter how you rename or hide them, an experienced Technician can still find them if he wants. What is your issue? Maybe we can help you solve it yourself.

Can I not simply rename the folder temp. I don't think he is going to hack my computer. I just don't want them on the screen. Need to re name but i tried that. I renamed it _Display but that did not work.

No you can't simply rename your Desktop folder, but you can create another folder and change the properties of Desktop instead of c:\users\yourname\desktop to display the new folder. This is how you can move your personal folder on another partition or drive to save space on C: This time however, instead of moving to another partition you simply point to an empty folder such as c:\desktop, so others won't see your actual desktop folder. You can change it back any time. But I have warned you, if an experienced Technician wants to see your data he still can. The best precaution is to actually copy them elsewhere (on a USB flash drive for example) and DELETE them from the Desktop folder. Make sure you also delete them from Recycle Bin. You can copy them back from the USB flash drive after the service. The same goes for the other personal folders, such as Documents, Music, Pictures, Videos. If you don't want others to see them , move them elsewhere and delete them.

PS: Why don't you tell us what is the problem with your computer? Maybe we can help you fix it yourself without having to go to an external service.