Changing Ubuntu WSL starting directory keeps it set to the defualt

[AlikanakelaKarwowski]

When editing the the settings, I have tried to chang the default starting directory for the Ubuntu WSL Terminal profile as follows
"startingDirectory": "/mnt/D/Folder/SubFolder/",
and while it doesnt cause any issues or causes the Terminal to resort to default configuration, it does not set the default starting directory to the specified path.

Also it seems that most settings for the profile do literally nothing when changing them, from color, to acrylic or scheme settings.

Note: changing the setting for power shell, cmd, of Kali-Linux does work and change things respectively

[zadjii-msft]

startingDirectory Should be a windows path, not a *nix path. Try D:\Folder\SubFolder instead.

Could you be specific which settings don't seem to work for that profile? Maybe share the profile from the profiles.json file?

[bitcrazed]

@zadjii-msft Just checked into this & verified that, yes, specifying a Windows path does work, and for WSL distros, specifying a Windows-relative path to a distro also works.

For example, \\\\wsl$\Ubuntu\home\\rich\\ opens my Ubuntu home folder! 😁

[DHowett-MSFT]

This is a duplicate of another bug in the db somewhere. We need to clarify in the documentation that startingDirectory is a Windows path, and since Terminal doesn't actually know anything about the connected application on the other end we can't assume that it's WSL and do path translation and all that stuff.

It's gotta be a Windows path. 😄

I'm re-tagging this with Issue-Docs

[MEXdave1997]

I am working on submitting a PR to add that bit of detail, if that is alright with everyone.

[DHowett-MSFT]

Sure!

[contento]

@zadjii-msft Just checked into this & verified that, yes, specifying a Windows path does work, and for WSL distros, specifying a Windows-relative path to a distro also works.

For example, \\\\wsl$\Ubuntu\home\\rich\\ opens my Ubuntu home folder! 😁

You may want to use wsl -l first, in order to determine which Ubuntu version you are running.
For example:
"startingDirectory": "\\\\wsl$\\Ubuntu-18.04\\home\\[linux-user]"

[jgroom33]

non-escaped also works:

"startingDirectory" : "//wsl$/Ubuntu-18.04/home/<user>"

[Boobies]

The problem isn't the documentation, it's the default JSON provided. That's why everyone keeps complaining about the same thing. Here's mine:

        "startingDirectory" : "\\\\wsl$\\Debian\\home\\<linuxuser>"

which instead takes me to /mnt/c/Users/<windowsuser>. So it looks like that string is entirely ignored and a default that has nothing to do with it is picked. It's not even the same username.

[MEXdave1997]

@Boobies weirdly enough, I've used "startingDirectory": "\\\\wsl$\\Ubuntu\\home\\[linux username]" in my config for a while now with no issue. Could there be any other setting that might be conflicting with it?

[amykapernick]

I've tried all of these and it still seems to be defaulting to c/Users/{user} as well. Any suggestions?

[mrzlanx532]

If the methods above don't work (like for me), do this:
Add to the end .bashrc file: cd ~.

From Windows environment:

1. execute wsl
2. execute cd ~ && echo 'cd ~' >> .bashrc

[ednl]

Reading every message here FINALLY gave me the hint #2743 (comment) why it wasn't working for me: the home directory needs to have read/execute access for group/others. Strange, because the root user should have access anyway, right?

I always do chmod -R go-rwx ~ and that bit me here. It is now fixed after chmod go+rx ~ and WSL starts up in my Linux home directory again.

Another gotcha for the docs, @DHowett ?

Edit: NOPE. It seemed to have been fixed when I tried closing and reopening Windows Terminal, but when running Terminal at system boot or after a long delay between closing and reopening, it STILL starts up in /mnt/c/Users/ instead of ~. In Settings it does still say, and always has: //wsl$/Ubuntu-20.04/home/

Edit2: I found a comment #592 (comment) that says the "//wsl$/ folder is not initialized until a wsl instance is started. So the first instance wont start in ~, but the others will start in ~ because the first instance initialized the //wsl$/ folder". So there is no way to always (even the first time) start up a WSL instance in the Linux home directory??

[SGarcia710]

The problem isn't the documentation, it's the default JSON provided. That's why everyone keeps complaining about the same thing. Here's mine:

        "startingDirectory" : "\\\\wsl$\\Debian\\home\\<linuxuser>"

which instead takes me to /mnt/c/Users/<windowsuser>. So it looks like that string is entirely ignored and a default that has nothing to do with it is picked. It's not even the same username.

This one worked for me, just editing the JSON file

[ajfpay]

non-escaped also works:

"startingDirectory" : "//wsl$/Ubuntu-18.04/home/<user>"

Yeah this work

[riolly]

The newer windows terminal provides a UI for setting starting directory for each profile.
Using startingDirectory is not working anymore. (I'm not sure starting from which version).

Just go to setting > Profiles > Ubuntu-xx.xx > Starting directory.
You can paste the path there or just click browse and go to the directory you want.

Hope it help.

[riolly]

In my case, this is the starting directory.
\\wsl.localhost\Ubuntu-20.04\home\alberto

[pedershk]

In my case, this is the starting directory. \\wsl.localhost\Ubuntu-20.04\home\alberto

Same - and I presume it changed to the \\wsl.localhost format with WSL2?

[DHowett]

The newer windows terminal provides a UI for setting starting directory for each profile.
Using startingDirectory is not working anymore. (I'm not sure starting from which version).

These are the same setting.

You may be seeing the issue described in #11512 (comment) where the timing makes it seem as though whatever you did fixed something.

[gabriel8fm]

@Boobies weirdly enough, I've used "startingDirectory": "\\\\wsl$\\Ubuntu\\home\\[linux username]" in my config for a while now with no issue. Could there be any other setting that might be conflicting with it?

@MEXdave1997 your settings worked perfectly for me, thanks!

[jetersen]

Today after reinstalling Ubuntu 20.04

on Windows 10 21H2 (Build 19044.1415)
I had to use

"startingDirectory": "/home/<user>"

Which is GREAT 👏

[ray-x]

__

Today after reinstalling Ubuntu 20.04

on Windows 10 21H2 (Build 19044.1415) I had to use

"startingDirectory": "/home/<user>"

Which is GREAT 👏

Thanks!
Same here, if set to //wsl$/Ubuntu/home/<user> I will start from root folder

[riker09]

I have Windows 10 Version 20H2 - Build 19042.1415 and had to use /home/<user> where <user> needed to be replaced with the actual user name. All other solutions provided above did not work for me. I have only Ubuntu installed inside WSL.

[zadjii-msft]

Okay lemme clear this up before there's more confusion. This ISN'T something that came with a Windows update, this is a Terminal change in 1.12.

In 1.12, you should be able to use /home/<user> as the startingDirectory, and the Terminal should automatically promote that to the correct path. Unfortunately, that came at a cost - there's a bug in 1.12 where //wsl$/Ubuntu/home/<user> paths will be treated as /. That's fixed in #12102. (\\wsl$\Ubuntu\home\<user> with backslashes should still work)

[wolf99]

My work laptop just updated from 1909 to 20H2 (upgrades are controlled by policy, thus the reason for not being on a newer version or having updated sooner).
Previously the following had worked just fine to start WT in ~ : "startingDirectory" : "/wsl$/Ubuntu/home/emoltob"
After the upgrade WT started in /, I assume it was then ignoring this setting as somehow invalid.
Changing to the following solved this: "startingDirectory" : "\\\\wsl$\\Ubuntu\\home\\emoltob"

Yes, these two seem basically equivalent. Yet the latter works while the former is apparently now ignored.

[zadjii-msft]

@wolf99 what you're seeing is exactly what I've described in #2743 (comment)

[wolf99]

Mmm I'm not on 1.12 yet though as I do not use the pre release versions. I am still on 1.11. Are you saying this change was also present in 1.11 ?

[zadjii-msft]

Yea, looks like we serviced #9223 to 1.11.2421 as well.

[morph2k]

I worked my way through this whole thread and it took me a while to realize that Windows Terminal has been updated. I added the line to the Json file and it only half worked, changing the starting directory from my Windows user folder to root.

Going into the settings under Ubuntu and setting the Starting directory option to \wsl$\Ubuntu\home\username\ works but not when using /

[AnimeshRy]

__

Today after reinstalling Ubuntu 20.04
on Windows 10 21H2 (Build 19044.1415) I had to use

"startingDirectory": "/home/<user>"

Which is GREAT 👏

Thanks! Same here, if set to //wsl$/Ubuntu/home/<user> I will start from root folder

This worked finally!

[mcandre]

Something recently changed and now WSL starts with a WSL root working directory instead of the correct WSL HOME working directory.

[barcellos-pedro]

__

Today after reinstalling Ubuntu 20.04
on Windows 10 21H2 (Build 19044.1415) I had to use

"startingDirectory": "/home/<user>"

Which is GREAT 👏

Thanks! Same here, if set to //wsl$/Ubuntu/home/<user> I will start from root folder

This worked finally!

That worked for me! Thanks! 💖

[mbowolick]

A lot of the paths here didn't work for me. \\wsl$\Ubuntu\home\<user> worked for me where <user> is the name of your Linux user.

[cjens00]

If the methods above don't work (like for me), do this: Add to the end .bashrc file: cd ~.

From Windows environment:

1. execute wsl
2. execute cd ~ && echo 'cd ~' >> .bashrc

Thank you. This is what I was looking for (works well enough).

[kwint]

I still can't get this to work as expected. I want the default folder to be ~/code. So my starting dir is set to: \\wsl$\Ubuntu-22.04\home\kwint\code but this just opens the home folder and not the code folder.

Afaik I don't have any cd ~ in my .bashrc or equivalent

Edit: always after you asked for help on the internet you find the solution yourself. For some reason my default wsl profile would use the executable ubuntu2204.exe. I changed this C:\Windows\system32\wsl.exe -d Ubuntu-22.04 and now the starting directory works as expected

[Easy-Cloud-in]

This is what I did in windows 10 latest terminal settings - PowerShell 7.3.4

{
                "colorScheme": "Ubuntu-22.04-ColorScheme",
                "commandline": "wsl.exe -d ubuntu",
                "font": 
                {
                    "face": "CaskaydiaCove Nerd Font"
                },
                "guid": "{51855cb2-8cce-5362-8f54-464b92b32386}",
                "hidden": false,
                "name": "Ubuntu",
                "source": "CanonicalGroupLimited.Ubuntu_79rhkp1fndgsc",
                "startingDirectory": null
 }

It worked like a charm both on right click menu and direct from terminal.

[Nick-Hope]

non-escaped also works:

"startingDirectory" : "//wsl$/Ubuntu-18.04/home/<user>"

//wsl$/Ubuntu/home/<user> worked for me but I also had to change my Command line in the settings from ubuntu.exe to wsl.exe -d Ubuntu.

[kevgilmore]

Today after reinstalling Ubuntu 20.04

on Windows 10 21H2 (Build 19044.1415) I had to use

"startingDirectory": "/home/<user>"

Which is GREAT 👏

this gave me error

[error 2147942667 (0x8007010b) when launching `ubuntu.exe']
Could not access starting directory "/home/kev/code"

Nor do any of the above strings works