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  1. C:
  2. Users
  3. Default User
FolderRisk: Do not touch
  • Hidden
  • Access denied
  • Legacy from XP

Default User C:\Users\Default User

Junction inherited from Windows XP pointing to C:\Users\Default, kept for legacy application compatibility. Cannot be opened.

Updated on By AltF4 Formation

What it’s for

On Windows XP and Windows Server 2003, the template profile was called “Default User”, and every new profile started as a copy of it. Since Windows Vista the template is C:\Users\Default. Default User is now only a junction that redirects to it, kept for older applications that still use the old path.

What it contains

  • No files of its own: it is a reparse point (NTFS junction) to C:\Users\Default.
  • Like the other legacy junctions, it carries the reparse-point and system attributes, and its access control list blocks enumeration (“Everyone Deny Read”), so File Explorer answers “Access denied”.
  • Applications that know the exact path can traverse it without being able to list its content.

Risks and best practices

  • Leave the junction and its ownership as they are: older applications still go through this path.
  • To customize future profiles, edit C:\Users\Default (or use an answer file with CopyProfile), not this junction.
  • Backup and copy tools must restore junctions as junctions without following them, or they risk duplicates and loops.
  • Security scans sometimes report this path as inaccessible, which is normal.

Useful commands

\Users
# Link type and target
Get-Item 'C:\Users\Default User' -Force | Select-Object FullName, Attributes, LinkType, Target


cmd /c dir C:\Users /AL

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