Windows 10: Can someone please explain all the different user folders? This is too confusing!!!

Sorry if I sound really dumb here.


I have used Windows 10 Pro for a while, but I am still confused and increasingly confused by all these different user folders, and I'm afraid I'm going to lose data.


I've got PC: Documents. I've got my user name Documents. I've got OneDrive whatever that is Documents. I've got Documents in a folder with my name on it along with app data, downloads, favorites, etc. in there. And I have PC<Documents. It's the same thing with AppData and a lot of other stuff. I even have my regular desktop and a OneDrive desktop, whatever that is.


The problem is I'm backing up Documents and AppData for certain folders. And now I realize I have different data in the different ones. I just download bunch of income tax forms. I've been looking looking for hours and downloading and saving again and again. Now I realize that they're the Document folder under my name and not one that under my in the Document folder under my user name, even though I was I thought that's where I was putting them. I keep backing up the Documents in my C:users<user folder, not realizianag that I'm not backing some of the stuff in my name<Document. And I haven o idea of there is other stuff in This Pc: Documents, where that is, or OneDrive Document, if that's even different.


Can I have just a single user folder like the old My Documents somewhere and get all my programs and browsers and open-with and everything to recognize that as the single place documents, app data, having everything default to that ? Can I get rid One Drive once and for all I've unlinked my PC from, but there is is a OneDrive? I've unlinked my PC, but there still are OneDrive paths on my machine


In other words, I just want one Document, apps folder etc., folder in place, perhaps under PC<users<user name and get rid of everything. Can I have PC<users<username<desktop and get rid of all the other desktops? The same with App data.


Many thanks. This is driving me crazy.


Anthony Giorgianni

:)

 

Current active users that are friends

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Confusion between User accounts and Windows Explorer User folders

The Windows Explorer lists two user folders. However, User Accounts in control panels only shows one account-mine. Why not two? Also, the folder name in Explorer is different than the one in User Accounts*cry. Why?

I'm throughly confused. What are the user folders in Window Explorer? Are they supposed to be accounts? Why don't they appear in User Accounts?*cry

I can find lots of info about User Accounts on line, but nothing about the folders in Windows Explorer.

 

Confused by different document folders

The summary of Try3 post is that you are seeing the difference between a link to a folder (such as the Documents library) and the real physical folder on the drive. These are the various user libraries which are just links to folders, not the real folder themselves:





These are the real folders on the SSD:





Note that the icon displayed for both the library links to the folders and the real folders themselves will change based upon the content type selected under the Customize menu of the folder/library properties.