How to programatically delete shortcut from user's desktop?

Question

Using C#, how can I delete a shortcut from a user's desktop?

Tried this with no success:

string WinUser = WindowsIdentity.GetCurrent().Name;
WinUser = WinUser.Substring(WinUser.LastIndexOf("\\") + 1);

File.Delete("C:\\Users\\" + WinUser + "\\Desktop\\Touch Data.lnk");

What am I missing? Appreciate any advice on this!

Answer 1

Try the following:

string desktopPath = Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.Desktop);
File.Delete(Path.Combine(desktopPath, "Touch Data.lnk"));

Answer 2

I had this issue in this question I asked:

Why does FolderBrowserDialog not allow the desktop as SelectedPath when RootFolder is MyComputer?

The answer I got was this:

Apparently, the Desktop in Win 7 doesn't actually exist at the path

c:\Users\username\Desktop

The system pretends it does at the command prompt and in windows explorer. But since it isn't there, the part of SelectedPath that requires its path to be under RootFolder disallows setting the path in that way.

It's possible this is the issue. You should use the Environment.GetFolderPath function to get a handle on the real desktop. :)