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So, from the linux subsystem bash I can access the windows filesystem in /mnt/c

but I'd like to access the linux filesystem from something like explorer, is this possible?

magicandre1981
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Keith Nicholas
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  • Possible duplicate of [Where is the Linux Subsystem's filesystem located in Windows 10?](https://superuser.com/questions/1067373/where-is-the-linux-subsystems-filesystem-located-in-windows-10) – Jaime Jul 29 '18 at 05:06

3 Answers3

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Yes.

All files can be found at C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\lxss\.
This folder is hidden, so you need to manually navigate there.

It seems to hide itself very well by closing all file handles as soon as possible but writing large files make it still occur in the Resource Monitor.

Also: Be prepared for permission issues and invisible files when you move files there (copying is no problem).

Writing files with illegal characters (such as / or \) results in a permission error (can't write the file).

Symlinks work flawlessly (even across file systems) as long as the file system containing that symlink is capable of those, ie. linking to other file systems works but not the other way.

GiantTree
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  • nice..... wonder what's going to happen when the filesystem exceeds path length or uses an illegal windows file character... or symlinks... :) – Keith Nicholas Aug 05 '16 at 02:57
  • I'm wondering how well a windows GUI git client is going to deal with it – Keith Nicholas Aug 05 '16 at 02:58
  • Symlinks work fine (in bash), path limits are filesystem dependent and thus not a real issue for Windows, illegal characters: depends on the filesystem. I check out some things and come back in a minute. – GiantTree Aug 05 '16 at 02:59
  • I added some more information regarding your comment to my answer. I haven't checked path length, though. – GiantTree Aug 05 '16 at 03:04
  • Not any more, with some Windows update the path has changed. – ori0n Mar 02 '18 at 09:53
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The path has changed, in updated Windows 10 files can be found here:

C:\Users\WINDOWS_USERNAME\AppData\Local\Packages\CanonicalGroupLimited.UbuntuonWindows_79rhkp1fndgsc\LocalState\rootfs\home\LINUX_USERNAME
ori0n
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I finally made a way to open explorer (and vscode) with actual correct folder context from inside WSL: https://github.com/andymule/wslwin

For example, after you install this, in linux (WSL) you would just type explorer, and it would open windows explorer at that location.

andymule
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