VS Arduino - Correct IDE folder location to configure on Windows 10

Jul 13^th, 2025 at 3:01am (UTC)

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VS Arduino › Visual Micro › Installation & Troubleshooting › Correct IDE folder location to configure on Windows 10

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Correct IDE folder location to configure on Windows 10 (Read 16808 times)

Opsimath Newbies Offline Posts: 6 Joined: Jan 23^rd, 2017	Correct IDE folder location to configure on Windows 10 Jan 23^rd, 2017 at 8:04pm	Print Post
	I installed Arduino IDE v. 1.8.1 from the Microsoft App Store on Windows 10. I was not prompted to choose an installation location and I installed using all default settings. I can open the IDE so I know the installation worked. I then installed vMicro 1701.19.1 in Visual Studio 2015 through the Tools/Extensions and Updates UI. I am trying to configure vMicro for the first time through the Visual Micro Explorer but cannot figure out where the IDE files are installed. Everything I find suggests they are installed to c:\Program Files (x86)\Arduino but I have no Arduino folder there. I have searched the drive for arduino.exe to no avail, yet the IDE does run so it must be somewhere. How do I determine the location of the IDE files to use in the configuration of vMicro?


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Tim@Visual Micro Administrator Offline Posts: 12191 Location: United Kingdom Joined: Apr 10^th, 2010	Re: Correct IDE folder location to configure on Windows 10 Reply #1 - Jan 23^rd, 2017 at 8:33pm	Print Post
	Hi, Can you right click the icon you click to start arduino see where it points to?


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Tim@Visual Micro Administrator Offline Posts: 12191 Location: United Kingdom Joined: Apr 10^th, 2010	Re: Correct IDE folder location to configure on Windows 10 Reply #2 - Jan 23^rd, 2017 at 8:36pm	Print Post
	In the future don't bother with windows store. Go to arduino.cc/downloads page and grab the zip, then unpack it to wherever you want and use that. You can also search for arduino.exe on your pc.
	« Last Edit: Jan 23^rd, 2017 at 8:36pm by Tim@Visual Micro »

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Opsimath Newbies Offline Posts: 6 Joined: Jan 23^rd, 2017	Re: Correct IDE folder location to configure on Windows 10 Reply #3 - Jan 24^th, 2017 at 12:13am	Print Post
	Thanks for the suggestions. In the Windows 10 shell right clicking does not offer a Properties option with all the helpful information that used to provide. I'm trying to track down the actual shortcut in the file system but so far no luck. You will note in my original post I mentioned having searched the drive for arduino.exe to no avail. While manually unpacking a download may work today it's not the best solution going forward as at some point the IDE installer may be designed to do more than copy files. In addition other users will find themselves in this predicament. The bits are on the machine somewhere. We should determine the easiest way to locate them and record the solution here to help those users.


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Opsimath Newbies Offline Posts: 6 Joined: Jan 23^rd, 2017	Re: Correct IDE folder location to configure on Windows 10 Reply #4 - Jan 24^th, 2017 at 1:02am	Print Post
	Well the good news is I found the bits in C:\program files\windowsapps\arduinollc.arduinoide_1.6.11.0_x 64__mdqgnx93n4wtt. This bizarre location is the result of installing as a Windows Store app. The bad news is that after submitting this path as the IDE folder location in the Visual Micro Explorer configuration dialog and creating a new blank Arduino project the build fails with: "An error was encountered during the 'Deep Search' library discovery process." My guess is this is a pathing or permissions issue. I might not have the patience to debug it so may revert to manually installing the Arduino IDE as I have spent too much time on this goose chase already. If I find a solution I will post it here for the next poor sop who tries to use the Windows Store version of the IDE.


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Opsimath Newbies Offline Posts: 6 Joined: Jan 23^rd, 2017	Re: Correct IDE folder location to configure on Windows 10 Reply #5 - Jan 24^th, 2017 at 1:08am	Print Post
	Oh, and in case anyone is wondering how I found arduino.exe on the machine after stating that a previous search of the drive failed to find exactly that you will discover that the permissions on the WindowsApps folder are set such that a regular user can't view the contents hence search will not traverse the contents to find the .exe. However knowing the full path to the executable does allow you to open the IDE's specific folder. I suspect my build error is related to this Rube Goldberg configuration somehow.
	« Last Edit: Jan 24^th, 2017 at 1:25am by Opsimath »

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Opsimath Newbies Offline Posts: 6 Joined: Jan 23^rd, 2017	Re: Correct IDE folder location to configure on Windows 10 Reply #6 - Jan 24^th, 2017 at 2:24am	Print Post
	Sure enough, I turned on verbose logging for the compiler and out pops an "Access is denied" message. Clearly using the Windows store version of the Arduino IDE is broken. I have installed the old fashioned version and the build is running without error. It would be helpful to either troubleshoot and document fixes to the Windows store setup or to warn your users not to utilize it for the time being.


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Tim@Visual Micro Administrator Offline Posts: 12191 Location: United Kingdom Joined: Apr 10^th, 2010	Re: Correct IDE folder location to configure on Windows 10 Reply #7 - Jan 24^th, 2017 at 3:50pm	Print Post
	Thanks, I will add a note to visual micro to tell people windows store version of arduino is a waste of space Grab the zip from arduino.cc\downloads page
	« Last Edit: Jan 24^th, 2017 at 3:52pm by Tim@Visual Micro »

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