Python: Getting AppData folder in a cross-platform way

Question

I\'d like a code snippet that gets the proper directory for app data (config files, etc) on all platforms (Win/Mac/Linux at least). For example: %APPDATA%/ on Windows.

Answer 1

You can use the following function to get user data dir, tested in linux and w10 (returning AppData/Local dir) it's adapted from the appdirs package:

import sys
from pathlib import Path
from os import getenv

def get_user_data_dir(appname):
    if sys.platform == "win32":
        import winreg
        key = winreg.OpenKey(
            winreg.HKEY_CURRENT_USER,
            r"Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders"
        )
        dir_,_ = winreg.QueryValueEx(key, "Local AppData")
        ans = Path(dir_).resolve(strict=False)
    elif sys.platform == 'darwin':
        ans = Path('~/Library/Application Support/').expanduser()
    else:
        ans=Path(getenv('XDG_DATA_HOME', "~/.local/share")).expanduser()
    return ans.joinpath(appname)