Desktop folder shows on desktop and exactly the same in file explorer.

I have two instances of the same desktop folder. One is on the Desktop with the name desktop and the other in File explorer with the same name, desktop.
Both are identical. see attached pdf. if I erase the one on the desktop, the one in file explorer is being erased as well. If I "save as" to desktop the items ave to both folders but they don't show on the desktop proper. I can drug and drop any item from both folders to the desktop proper without a problem. Any suggestion?
Thank you
Michael

Yes, unfortunately it is very easy to do something like that.

Try this:

michael_271 said:

I have two instances of the same desktop folder.

Click to expand...

Well, judging by the description you provided, you really have only one instance, but two different access paths, which lead to that same instance.

Which means that one is likely a "real" folder and another is just a link to the same folder. Judging by your screenshots, it is a link of type "junction" or of type "hard link". Junctions and hard links look indistinguishable from "real" folders in File Explorer properties (and a hard link is as real as the original folder - they are fully equivalent access paths to the folder).

If this is a junction, you can go to these locations in file system using Command Prompt, the `dir` command will tell you which one is a "real" folder and which one is a junction. "Real" folders are tagged as `<DIR>` in the output, while junctions are tagged as `<JUNCTION>`. You can delete a junction if you wish (just don't accidentally delete the real folder, if you need it).

If this a hard link, they are completely indistinguishable. Deleting one hard link (out of several) does not delete the data in the folder.

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In any case, what you are looking at is a normal everyday feature of the file system. Who/what created these links and why you have a `Desktop` folder on your desktop (???) is a separate question though.

Thank you. I understand and will follow the suggestion. The question I have is why when I "save as" to desktop. items are being saved to both folders but not directly to the desktop?

save as (folder or file)
send to (desktop)

michael_271 said:

Thank you. I understand and will follow the suggestion. The question I have is why when I "save as" to desktop. items are being saved to both folders but not directly to the desktop?

Click to expand...

Firstly, as I stated above, there are no "both folders". There's only one folder and two "doorways" ("links", "access paths", whatever) that lead to that same folder. That's why everything you place there appears in "both". It is actually the same location, like two different doors that lead to the same room in the house.

Secondly, what exactly do you mean by "save as to desktop"? By "desktop" you mean these weird folders named "Desktop"? Or do you mean your actual desktop?

What happens if you drag-and-drop some file directly to your desktop. I.e. simply drag-and-drop it to the wallpaper. Does the file also appear in "both" folders? Can you show us the current content of those folders?

You've redirected your desktop, pictures and documents folders to D:\, as shown in the left side of the Explorer screen shot. That's why the folder named Desktop shows in both places. In the Explorer screenshot, there's a folder called "Disk Partitions & Backup;" is there also one on the desktop? It seems there might be, but it's cutoff.

AndreyT said:

Firstly, as I stated above, there are no "both folders". There's only one folder and two "doorways" ("links", "access paths", whatever) that lead to that same folder. That's why everything you place there appears in "both". It is actually the same location, like two different doors that lead to the same room in the house.

Secondly, what exactly do you mean by "save as to desktop"? By "desktop" you mean these weird folders named "Desktop"? Or do you mean your actual desktop?

What happens if you drag-and-drop some file directly to your desktop. I.e. simply drag-and-drop it to the wallpaper. Does the file also appear in "both" folders? Can you show us the current content of those folders?

Click to expand...

"saving as" means that If I have opened a file "name1" in it's original directory, I can save it as a file "name2" to a different location. In my case the desired location is a the actual desktop. The physical desktop where all my shortcuts, This PC, Recycle Bin etc. reside. What's happening in my case is that the files I'm saving are being saved to the weird folder named "Desktop" located on actual desktop. By "both" I mean one weird one on actual desktop and one in windows explorer, which actually is not a weird one. I am able to move them to desktop proper by drugging them from these weird folders named "Desktop"

pseymour said:

You've redirected your desktop, pictures and documents folders to D:\, as shown in the left side of the Explorer screen shot. That's why the folder named Desktop shows in both places. In the Explorer screenshot, there's a folder called "Disk Partitions & Backup;" is there also one on the desktop? It seems there might be, but it's cutoff.

Click to expand...

Yes, the folder called "Disk Partitions & Backup;" shows in both places. Yes, I did move location of my desktop, documents etc, to my D:\ drive, just in case the c:\ crashes. My c:\drive has also a desktop folder in C:\Users\Michael\ but this one is empty as I changed location to d:\.

michael_271 said:

"saving as" means that If I have opened a file "name1" in it's original directory, I can save it as a file "name2" to a different location. In my case the desired location is a the actual desktop. The physical desktop where all my shortcuts, This PC, Recycle Bin etc. reside. What's happening in my case is that the files I'm saving are being saved to the weird folder named "Desktop" located on actual desktop. By "both" I mean one weird one on actual desktop and one in windows explorer, which actually is not a weird one. I am able to move them to desktop proper by drugging them from these weird folders named "Desktop"

Click to expand...

So, if I understand your correctly, when you save files to your actual desktop (aka "desktop proper") they are not saved to your actual desktop (they don't appear on your actual desktop), but instead they are saved to that weird folder.

Is my understanding correct?

In this case the key question would be: what folder represents your actual desktop then ("desktop proper")? A simple way to answer this question would be as follows: go to your desktop proper, open properties of any app shortcut or any file residing on your desktop proper, switch to the "General" tab. The information in that tab will tell you where that shortcut is stored, i.e. the folder for your actual desktop. (We need to find something stored on your desktop, not on public desktop.)

What does it say?