In WSL 1, these Linux files are stored in the Windows drive (which uses the NT file system), while in WSL 2 these Linux files are stored in a virtual hard disk which uses the EXT4 file system. Every other detail on how the files are accessed remains the same. What would you like to see next?
You can also access them directly at a \wsl$ path. In File Explorer or any other Windows application that can browse files, navigate to the following path: \wsl$. You’ll see the folders for all your installed Linux distributions, which are exposed as if they were network shares.
A common question we ran across in our research was “What file system does WSL use?”.
The primary file system used by WSL is Vol, and fs. It is used to store the Linux system files, as well as the content of your Linux home directory. As such, Vol. Fs supports most features the Linux VFS provides, including Linux permissions, symbolic links, FIFOs, sockets, and device files.
Is it possible to read WSL files directly from the HDD?
While it is true that, for WSL1, the files are stored there by WSL, accessing them directly can cause WSL corruption. Also note that for WSL2, the files are inside a virtual HDD ( ext4.vhdx ), so it prevents you from using this technique at all.
Where does linux subsystem keep its files?
As Linux subsystem files are stored in an NTFS folder in Windows 10, WSL calculates and stores Linux metadata in NTFS extended attributes. But, Windows apps and tools don’t know how to deal with.
What file system does Windows Subsystem for Linux use?
In earlier iterations of Windows Subsystem for Linux, the Ubuntu file system was at %localappdata%\Lxss (e. g, C:\Users\Username\App. Data\Local\Lxss – replace the Username with your Username on Windows). See the WSL blog post on File System Support: The primary file system used by WSL is Vol, and fs.
Your Windows file system is located at /mnt/c in the Bash shell environment. Show activity on this post. This seems to have changed since Bash was originally introduced, and does not apply to distributions from the Windows Store, or maybe it is not consistent for all systems as my home directory is located in another location:.
How to access home directory in Windows Subsystem for Linux?
For WSL2 you can access to home directory from windows (Windows 10 build 18342) like this : In earlier iterations of Windows Subsystem for Linux, the Ubuntu file system was at %localappdata%\Lxss (e. g, C:\Users\Username\App. Data\Local\Lxss – replace the Username with your Username on Windows).