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What is the Public Folder & How to Use it for Sharing

Mon, 02/22/2010 - 12:41 — Ciprian

The Public folder was first introduced with Windows Vista and kept in Windows 7. It is not much of a feature, just a folder with a slightly special setup which can be useful in certain scenarios. To make sure our readers completely understand what the Public folder is and how they can use it, I've though of creating this little guide which explains everything.

What is the Public Folder in Windows 7?

The Public folder is located in 'C:\Users\Public' and it is a folder to which all users registered on a computer have access to. All that is copied in this folder is accessible to all users who have an account on that computer. Also, depending on the settings you make, this folder can be accessed by all computers which are part of the same network.

What Does the Public Folder Contain?

By default, the Public folder contains the following sub-folders: Public Documents, Public Download, Public Music, Public Pictures, Public Videos. These folders also contain some sample files such as music, pictures and videos.

Public Folder

The Public folder also contains a series of hidden folders such as: Favorites, Libraries and Public Desktop. By default, these folders are empty.

How to Use the Public Folder

Using the Public folder is a matter of choice and personal style. I prefer not to use it but this doesn't mean it cannot come in handy. For example, if you have multiple people using the same computer, each person with his own user account, you can use the Public folder to share files between all these user accounts. Everything you place inside this folder will be accessible to other user accounts.

The Public folder can also be used for sharing files with other computers on your network. If you choose to share this folder, other computers can access its contents.

How to Share/Unshare the Public Folder

By default, the Public folder is not shared unless you are connected to a HomeGroup. To enable or disable sharing this folder, you need to open the 'Advanced sharing settings' panel. To learn how to do this, read our guide on How to Customize Network Sharing Settings in Windows 7

Conclusion

As you can see, this feature is not that important and you can surely share files and folder with other computers and users using other methods. However, some people might want to have all their shared files and folders in one place, and the Public folder can be useful to them. If you want to know more about networking in Windows 7, don't hesitate to check out the articles recommended below.