Donald is writing a macro in which he needs to reference a user's desktop. However, the path to the desktop necessarily varies from system to system and user to user. He wonders what coding he can use to determine the path to the desktop regardless of system.
There are several ways to find the path to the desktop in VBA. One way is to call the Windows scripting host, in this manner:
Function GetDesktop() As String Dim oWSHShell As Object Set oWSHShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell") GetDesktop = oWSHShell.SpecialFolders("Desktop") Set oWSHShell = Nothing End Function
Note that this is a user-defined macro that you can use either from the worksheet or from another macro. The use from the worksheet would be as follows:
=GetDesktop()
Another way to determine the path to the desktop is to use the following line in your code:
sPath = Environ("USERPROFILE") & "\Desktop"
Note:
ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (8236) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Excel in Office 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Finding the Path to the Desktop.
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2020-07-11 10:47:21
Rick Rothstein
You have given the way to use the Windows Scripting Host to find the path to the Desktop, but you can find the path to other special folders using it as well. Here is a list of special folder names whose paths you can find using Windows Scripting Host...
AllUsersDesktop
AllUsersStartMenu
AllUsersPrograms
AllUsersStartup
Desktop
Favorites
Fonts
MyDocuments
NetHood
PrintHood
Programs
Recent
SendTo
StartMenu
Startup
Templates
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