Change the location of the directory in a Windows install of Git Bash

Question

I am not even sure I am asking the right question  Let me explain my situation   This is about Git on Windows nbsp 7   My company sets up the Windows user directory on a network drive  not on the local hard drive  for backup and other purposes beyond the scope of this question   I cannot change that policy   I CAN have local files outside of that scheme however and that is how my Apache server is set up  Entirely local   I installed Git  It installs Bash  When I fire up Bash and cd    change to the root directory  I find that it  the Bash root  points to my network user directory  I want it not to do that  I want    to be elsewhere on my hard drive  I want it so that when I perform other operations such as installing a certificate  an SSH key  etc  its defaults will not automatically use that network directory   I have searched in vain everywhere  and all I can find refers to answers that involve aliases  redirection  and the location  HOME points to  But that is not what I want at all   The question is  Can I change that directory  And if so  How   UPDATE  So   HOME is what I need to modify  However I have been unable to find where this mythical  HOME variable is set so I assumed it was a Linux system version of PATH or something  Anyway     I do have a  profile  file under git etc  Here are the contents  notice no  HOME        To the extent possible under law  the author s  have dedicated all     copyright and related and neighboring rights to this software to the     public domain worldwide  This software is distributed without any warranty      You should have received a copy of the CC0 Public Domain Dedication along     with this software      If not  see  lt http   creativecommons org publicdomain zero 1 0  gt         System-wide profile file      Some resources        Customizing Your Shell  http   www dsl org cookbook cookbook 5 html SEC69     Consistent BackSpace and Delete Configuration        http   www ibb net  anne keyboard html     The Linux Documentation Project  http   www tldp org      The Linux Cookbook  http   www tldp org LDP linuxcookbook html      Greg s Wiki http   mywiki wooledge org       Setup some default paths  Note that this order will allow user installed     software to override  system  software      Modifying these default path settings can be done in different ways      To learn more about startup files  refer to your shell s man page     MSYS2 PATH   usr local bin  usr bin  bin    MANPATH   usr local man  usr share man  usr man  share man   MANPATH     INFOPATH   usr local info  usr share info  usr info  share info   INFOPATH     MINGW MOUNT POINT    if   -n   MSYSTEM      then     case   MSYSTEM  in       MINGW32          MINGW MOUNT POINT  mingw32         PATH    MINGW MOUNT POINT  bin   MSYS2 PATH    PATH           PKG CONFIG PATH    MINGW MOUNT POINT  lib pkgconfig   MINGW MOUNT POINT  share pkgconfig          ACLOCAL PATH    MINGW MOUNT POINT  share aclocal  usr share aclocal          MANPATH    MINGW MOUNT POINT  share man   MANPATH                  MINGW64          MINGW MOUNT POINT  mingw64         PATH    MINGW MOUNT POINT  bin   MSYS2 PATH    PATH           PKG CONFIG PATH    MINGW MOUNT POINT  lib pkgconfig   MINGW MOUNT POINT  share pkgconfig          ACLOCAL PATH    MINGW MOUNT POINT  share aclocal  usr share aclocal          MANPATH    MINGW MOUNT POINT  share man   MANPATH                  MSYS          PATH    MSYS2 PATH   opt bin   PATH           PKG CONFIG PATH   usr lib pkgconfig  usr share pkgconfig  lib pkgconfig                            PATH    MSYS2 PATH    PATH                esac   else     PATH    MSYS2 PATH    PATH     fi    MAYBE FIRST START false   SYSCONFDIR    SYSCONFDIR   etc        TMP and TEMP as defined in the Windows environment must be kept     for windows apps  even if started from msys2  However  leaving     them set to the default Windows temporary directory or unset     can have unexpected consequences for msys2 apps  so we define     our own to match GNU Linux behaviour    ORIGINAL TMP  TMP   ORIGINAL TEMP  TEMP    unset TMP TEMP    tmp   cygpath -w   ORIGINAL TMP  2 gt   dev null     temp   cygpath -w   ORIGINAL TEMP  2 gt   dev null     TMP   tmp     TEMP   tmp    case   TMP  in       TMP    cygpath -m   TMP      esac   case   TEMP  in       TEMP    cygpath -m   TEMP      esac   test -d   TMPDIR     test   -d   TMP           TMPDIR   TMP      export TMPDIR           Define default printer   p   proc registry HKEY CURRENT USER Software Microsoft Windows NT CurrentVersion Windows Device    if   -e    p       then     read -r PRINTER  lt     p       PRINTER   PRINTER        fi   unset p    print flags                1  amp  0x0002     amp  amp  echo -n  binary     echo -n  text          1  amp  0x0010     amp  amp  echo -n   exec          1  amp  0x0040     amp  amp  echo -n   cygexec          1  amp  0x0100     amp  amp  echo -n   notexec           Shell dependent settings   profile d            local file      for file in   export LC COLLATE C  echo  etc profile d    1   do         -e    file      amp  amp       file       done      if   -n   MINGW MOUNT POINT     then       for file in   export LC COLLATE C  echo   MINGW MOUNT POINT  etc profile d    1   do           -e    file      amp  amp       file         done     fi        for postinst in   export LC COLLATE C  echo  etc post-install   post   do       -e    postinst      amp  amp       postinst     done    if      x  BASH VERSION      x     then     HOSTNAME     usr bin hostname       profile d sh       -f   etc bash bashrc     amp  amp      etc bash bashrc    elif      x  KSH VERSION      x     then     typeset -l HOSTNAME     usr bin hostname       profile d sh     PS1   print   033 0   PWD  n 033 32m  USER    HOSTNAME   033 33m  PWD   HOME     033 0m n       elif      x  ZSH VERSION      x     then     HOSTNAME     usr bin hostname       profile d zsh     PS1    n  m   h            elif      x  POSH VERSION      x     then     HOSTNAME     usr bin hostname       PS1        else     HOSTNAME     usr bin hostname       profile d sh     PS1        fi    if   -n   ACLOCAL PATH      then     export ACLOCAL PATH   fi    export PATH MANPATH INFOPATH PKG CONFIG PATH USER TMP TEMP PRINTER HOSTNAME PS1 SHELL tmp temp   test -n   TERM     export TERM xterm-256color    if     MAYBE FIRST START     true     then     sh  usr bin regen-info sh      if   -f   usr bin update-ca-trust        then       sh  usr bin update-ca-trust     fi      clear     echo     echo     echo                                                                           echo                                                                           echo                                                                           echo                      C   A   U   T   I   O   N                            echo                                                                           echo                     This is first start of MSYS2                          echo          You MUST restart shell to apply necessary actions                echo                                                                           echo                                                                           echo                                                                           echo     echo   fi   unset MAYBE FIRST START

User · Answer

I d share what I did  which works not only for Git  but MSYS MinGW as well   The HOME environment variable is not normally set for Windows applications  so creating it through Windows did not affect anything else   From the Computer Properties  right-click on Computer - or whatever it is named - in Explorer  and select Properties  or Control Panel -  System and Security -  System   choose Advanced system settings  then Environment Variables    and create a new one  HOME  and assign it wherever you like   If you can t create new environment variables  the other answer will still work    I went through the details of how to create environment variables precisely because it s so dificult to find

User · Answer

So   HOME is what I need to modify  However I have been unable to find where this mythical  HOME variable is set so I assumed it was a Linux system version of PATH or something  Anyway       Answer  Adding HOME at the top of the profile file worked   HOME  c   path to custom root        THE FIX WAS ADDING THE FOLLOWING LINE TO THE TOP OF THE PROFILE FILE    HOME  c   path to custom root        below are the original contents                 To the extent possible under law    blah blah      Some resources        Customizing Your Shell  http   www dsl org cookbook cookbook 5 html SEC69     Consistent BackSpace and Delete Configuration        http   www ibb net  anne keyboard html     The Linux Documentation Project  http   www tldp org      The Linux Cookbook  http   www tldp org LDP linuxcookbook html      Greg s Wiki http   mywiki wooledge org       Setup some default paths  Note that this order will allow user installed     software to override  system  software      Modifying these default path settings can be done in different ways      To learn more about startup files  refer to your shell s man page     MSYS2 PATH   usr local bin  usr bin  bin    MANPATH   usr local man  usr share man  usr man  share man   MANPATH     INFOPATH   usr local info  usr share info  usr info  share info   INFOPATH     MINGW MOUNT POINT    if   -n   MSYSTEM      then     case   MSYSTEM  in       MINGW32          MINGW MOUNT POINT  mingw32         PATH    MINGW MOUNT POINT  bin   MSYS2 PATH    PATH           PKG CONFIG PATH    MINGW MOUNT POINT  lib pkgconfig   MINGW MOUNT POINT  share pkgconfig          ACLOCAL PATH    MINGW MOUNT POINT  share aclocal  usr share aclocal          MANPATH    MINGW MOUNT POINT  share man   MANPATH                  MINGW64          MINGW MOUNT POINT  mingw64         PATH    MINGW MOUNT POINT  bin   MSYS2 PATH    PATH           PKG CONFIG PATH    MINGW MOUNT POINT  lib pkgconfig   MINGW MOUNT POINT  share pkgconfig          ACLOCAL PATH    MINGW MOUNT POINT  share aclocal  usr share aclocal          MANPATH    MINGW MOUNT POINT  share man   MANPATH                  MSYS          PATH    MSYS2 PATH   opt bin   PATH           PKG CONFIG PATH   usr lib pkgconfig  usr share pkgconfig  lib pkgconfig                            PATH    MSYS2 PATH    PATH                esac   else     PATH    MSYS2 PATH    PATH     fi    MAYBE FIRST START false   SYSCONFDIR    SYSCONFDIR   etc        TMP and TEMP as defined in the Windows environment must be kept     for windows apps  even if started from msys2  However  leaving     them set to the default Windows temporary directory or unset     can have unexpected consequences for msys2 apps  so we define     our own to match GNU Linux behaviour    ORIGINAL TMP  TMP   ORIGINAL TEMP  TEMP    unset TMP TEMP    tmp   cygpath -w   ORIGINAL TMP  2 gt   dev null     temp   cygpath -w   ORIGINAL TEMP  2 gt   dev null     TMP   tmp     TEMP   tmp    case   TMP  in       TMP    cygpath -m   TMP      esac   case   TEMP  in       TEMP    cygpath -m   TEMP      esac   test -d   TMPDIR     test   -d   TMP           TMPDIR   TMP      export TMPDIR           Define default printer   p   proc registry HKEY CURRENT USER Software Microsoft Windows NT CurrentVersion Windows Device    if   -e    p       then     read -r PRINTER  lt     p       PRINTER   PRINTER        fi   unset p    print flags                1  amp  0x0002     amp  amp  echo -n  binary     echo -n  text          1  amp  0x0010     amp  amp  echo -n   exec          1  amp  0x0040     amp  amp  echo -n   cygexec          1  amp  0x0100     amp  amp  echo -n   notexec           Shell dependent settings   profile d            local file      for file in   export LC COLLATE C  echo  etc profile d    1   do         -e    file      amp  amp       file       done      if   -n   MINGW MOUNT POINT     then       for file in   export LC COLLATE C  echo   MINGW MOUNT POINT  etc profile d    1   do           -e    file      amp  amp       file         done     fi        for postinst in   export LC COLLATE C  echo  etc post-install   post   do       -e    postinst      amp  amp       postinst     done    if      x  BASH VERSION      x     then     HOSTNAME     usr bin hostname       profile d sh       -f   etc bash bashrc     amp  amp      etc bash bashrc    elif      x  KSH VERSION      x     then     typeset -l HOSTNAME     usr bin hostname       profile d sh     PS1   print   033 0   PWD  n 033 32m  USER    HOSTNAME   033 33m  PWD   HOME     033 0m n       elif      x  ZSH VERSION      x     then     HOSTNAME     usr bin hostname       profile d zsh     PS1    n  m   h            elif      x  POSH VERSION      x     then     HOSTNAME     usr bin hostname       PS1        else     HOSTNAME     usr bin hostname       profile d sh     PS1        fi    if   -n   ACLOCAL PATH      then     export ACLOCAL PATH   fi    export PATH MANPATH INFOPATH PKG CONFIG PATH USER TMP TEMP PRINTER HOSTNAME PS1 SHELL tmp temp   test -n   TERM     export TERM xterm-256color    if     MAYBE FIRST START     true     then     sh  usr bin regen-info sh      if   -f   usr bin update-ca-trust        then       sh  usr bin update-ca-trust     fi      clear     echo     echo     echo                                                                           echo                                                                           echo                                                                           echo                      C   A   U   T   I   O   N                            echo                                                                           echo                     This is first start of MSYS2                          echo          You MUST restart shell to apply necessary actions                echo                                                                           echo                                                                           echo                                                                           echo     echo   fi   unset MAYBE FIRST START

User · Answer

In my case  all I had to do was add the following User variable on Windows   Variable name  HOME Variable value   USERPROFILE   How to set a Environment Variable  You can use the User variables for username section if you are not a system administrator

User · Answer

So   HOME is what I need to modify        However I have been unable to find where this mythical  HOME variable is set so I assumed it was a Linux system version of PATH or something     Git 2 23  Q3 2019  is quite explicit on how HOME is set   See commit e12a955  04 Jul 2019  by Karsten Blees  kblees    Merged by Junio C Hamano -- gitster -- in commit fc613d2  19 Jul 2019        mingw  initialize HOME on startup      HOME initialization was historically duplicated in many different places    including  etc profile  launch scripts such as git-bash vbs and gitk cmd    and  although slightly broken  in the git-wrapper       Even unrelated projects such as GitExtensions and TortoiseGit need to   implement the same logic to be able to call git directly       Initialize HOME in Git s own startup code so that we can eventually retire   all the duplicate initialization code    Now  mingw c includes the following code       calculate HOME if not set    if   getenv  HOME                    try  HOMEDRIVE HOMEPATH - the home share may be a network        location  thus also check if the path exists  i e  is not        disconnected              if   tmp   getenv  HOMEDRIVE               struct strbuf buf   STRBUF INIT          strbuf addstr  amp buf  tmp           if   tmp   getenv  HOMEPATH                   strbuf addstr  amp buf  tmp               if  is directory buf buf                   setenv  HOME   buf buf  1               else                 tmp   NULL     use  USERPROFILE                      strbuf release  amp buf                use  USERPROFILE if the home share is not available        if   tmp  amp  amp   tmp   getenv  USERPROFILE             setenv  HOME   tmp  1

User · Answer

Instead of modifying the global profile you could create the  bash profile in your default  HOME directory  e g  C  Users WhateverUser  bash profile  with the following contents   export HOME  C  my projects dir  cd   HOME    if you d like it to be the starting dir of the git shell

User · Answer

I know this is an old question  but it is the top google result for  gitbash homedir windows  so figured I d add my findings   No matter what I tried I couldn t get git-bash to start in anywhere but my network drive  U   in my case making every operation take 15-20 seconds to respond   Remote employee on VPN  network drive hosted on the other side of the country   I tried setting HOME and HOMEDIR variables in windows   I tried setting HOME and HOMEDIR variables in the git installation setc profile file   I tried editing the  Start in  on the git-bash shortcut to be C  user myusername    env  command inside the git-bash shell would show correct c  user myusername  But git-bash would still start in U    What ultimately fixed it for me was editing the git-bash shortcut and removing the  --cd-to-home  from the Target line    I m on Windows 10 running latest version of Git-for-windows 2 22 0

User · Answer

I faced exactly the same issue  My home drive mapped to a network drive  Also   No Write access to home drive No write access to Git bash profile No admin rights to change environment variables from control panel     However below worked from command line and I was able to add HOME to environment variables   rundll32 sysdm cpl EditEnvironmentVariables

User · Answer

1 Right click to Gitbash shortcut choose Properties 2 Choose  Shortcut  tab 3 Type your starting directory to  Start in  field 4 Remove  --cd-to-home  part from  Target  field

User · Answer

I don t understand  why you don t want to set the  HOME environment variable since that solves exactly what you re asking for   cd   doesn t mean change to the root directory  but change to the user s home directory  which is set by the  HOME environment variable   Quick n dirty solution  Edit C  Program Files  x86  Git etc profile and set  HOME variable to whatever you want  add it if it s not there   A good place could be for example right after a condition commented by   Set up USER s home directory  It must be in the MinGW format  for example   HOME  c my custom home   Save it  open Git Bash and execute cd    You should be in a directory  c my custom home now   Everything that accesses the user s profile should go into this directory instead of your Windows  profile on a network drive   Note  C  Program Files  x86  Git etc profile is shared by all users  so if the machine is used by multiple users  it s a good idea to set the  HOME dynamically   HOME  c Users  USERNAME   Cleaner solution  Set the environment variable HOME in Windows to whatever directory you want  In this case  you have to set it in Windows path format  with backslashes  e g  c  my custom home   Git Bash will load it and convert it to its format   If you want to change the home directory for all users on your machine  set it as a system environment variable  where you can use for example  USERNAME  variable so every user will have his own home directory  for example   HOME c  custom home  USERNAME    If you want to change the home directory just for yourself  set it as a user environment variable  so other users won t be affected  In this case  you can simply hard-code the whole path   HOME c  my custom home

User · Answer

Here you go  Here you go  Create a System Restore Point  Log on under an admin account  Delete the folder C  SomeUser  Move the folder c  Users SomeUser so that it becomes c  SomeUser  Open the registry editor  Navigate to HKLM SOFTWARE Microsoft Windows NT CurrentVersion ProfileList  Search for  ProfileImagePath  until you find the one that points at c  Users SomeUser  Modify it so that it points at c  SomeUser  Use System Restore in case things go wrong

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