32
2
I have a family laptop where I have created separate users for my kids. My user is an admin, theirs are not. I had assumed that having separate users would have separate desktops. But I have installed programs that have their shortcuts showing up on the other users, and then recently one of them changed the desktop background pic, and it changed mine to that as well.
I've learned there is some kind of default or public desktop. I have used Explorer to look at \Users\username\Desktop and the public Desktop, but it still seems odd. I think the public Desktop on the file system did not contain the pictures, files, and program shortcuts that are actually displayed on the everyone's desktop.
13The answers below suggest this is something to do with the Public desktop. That could explain the desktop shortcuts, but I'm not inclined to think changing the background would affect other desktops. That is typically a per user setting. The only thing that comes to mind with that is that someone replaced the file you're both using as a background, instead of using the standard mechanism to select a different file. If that isn't what happened, something screwy is going on. – jpmc26 – 2016-11-18T01:17:52.200
Not sure if Win 10 has completely changed the menus here, but can you right click on one of the shared shortcuts, choose Properties, switch to the General tab, and grab the "Location"? This will tell you where the programs are stuffing their shortcuts (in Public\Desktop or somewhere else). – jpmc26 – 2016-11-18T01:21:31.377
1Software that changes your desktop picture at install is so bad-mannered and badly designed that you can't trust it to do things the right way. – Chris H – 2016-11-18T09:11:38.270
1Do the different local user profiles share the same Live account? If yes, some settings (like color schemes and background pictures) will be synced. – Gerald Schneider – 2016-11-18T13:59:49.170
5@jpmc26 Even replacing the file shouldn't do this, and Windows makes a special transcodedWallpaper.jpg for the background file in your own profile when you set the image. You can't have two users share that transcodedWallpaper file. More likely, all of the users are sharing the same Microsoft Account. – Joel Coehoorn – 2016-11-18T15:42:49.830
User26270, have you had an opportunity to test Joel Coehoorn's suggestion? If you actually did configure multiple user accounts on one Windows 10 machine linked to the same Microsoft account, that would explain the mysterious wallpaper changes. At the same time, there are some great tutorials online that explain how to potentially switch the other accounts to a local account. Ultimately, I also believe that his post is the best candidate to be marked as the official answer.
– Run5k – 2016-11-21T04:01:52.220I have installed programs that have their shortcuts showing up on the other users Always choose for custom/advanced installation when you install software, rather than default/automatic. Often that gives you the chance to choose between 'All users'/'Current user only'. – Jan Doggen – 2016-11-21T10:57:20.240