Question

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Where to store an application log file on Windows

Windows seems to have several places where different applications store its logs. Windows services and some applications use the Windows event log, others use C:\ProgramData, another one store them to C:\Users(Local/System/Public/Default)\AppData/(Roaming/Local).

I noticed this when developing Windows services that the default (AppData/Roaming) environment variable points to something like C:\Windows\System32\Users\system\AppData\Roaming or other completely ridiculous locations, so I’m wondering if there’s any sheet out there where to store logs for: User Applications/User Services/System Services and more general: What are all these application folders for (What belongs where?)

Thanks!

Answer 1

For user specific logs:

• LocalApplicationData – %APPDATA%/Local/...

For user specific logs tied to the users profile:

• ApplicationData – %APPDATA%/Roaming/...

For all other logs:

• CommonApplicationData – %ALLUSERSPROFILE%/...

See Environment.SpecialFolder for other folders.