Why do I see two desktop.ini files on my Windows Desktop?

Question

My brother just asked me this question yesterday and thought I would share it with the community for others who may wonder. Why do I see two desktop.ini files on my Windows Desktop? Also how can you have the same name file in the same subdirectory?

Answer 1

You can not have two files located in the same directory with the same name. So what give here? The files are not in the same directory. They are located in two folders. One is located in the “C:\Users\\Desktop” folder, and the other one is located in the “C:\Users\Public\Desktop” folder. They are merged by the desktop UI

The reason you see them is these files are hidden system files and by default. This means that they are hidden from your view unless you turn on “Show hidden files, folders, and drives” and uncheck “Hide protected operating system files”.

Answer 2

Because you are seeing the All Users (%SystemDrive%\Users\Public\Desktop\Desktop.ini) and the current user profile (%UserProfile%\Desktop\Desktop.ini) files. The desktop, like the start menu, combines both your personal, and public shortcuts into one view.

You also have "Show Hidden Files" and "Show Protected System Files" in your folder options selected. If you choose to hide system files, you will not see either desktop.ini files on your desktop.