When you launch WSL, you land in your Linux home directory:

If you’ve installed WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux), Git Bash, or MSYS2, you technically have a Bash shell. But placing a .bashrc file on your Windows desktop won’t work. Here’s where to find—and create—your configuration file depending on how you’re running Bash on Windows 11. If you’re using Windows 11’s flagship Linux integration (WSL2), your .bashrc does not live in C:\Users\YourName . It lives inside the Linux distribution’s virtual file system.

Never edit this file with Notepad or WordPad. Use nano , vim , or VS Code’s WSL remote extension. Windows apps can add carriage returns ( \r\n ) that break the Bash parser. 2. The Git Bash Dev: Hidden in Your User Profile Many Windows 11 developers install Git for Windows, which comes with Git Bash —a lightweight Bash emulator. Git Bash does not read a Linux file system; it reads Windows files but expects Unix line endings.

These environments treat your Windows user folder as their /home directory, so you’ll find .bashrc side-by-side with your Windows documents. The confusion arises because Windows 11 runs Bash in two fundamentally different ways:

And for the love of automation—back up your .bashrc before experimenting. One wrong PS1 variable can turn your prompt into a binary novel.

Yes, it’s the same folder as your Documents, Downloads, and Desktop. Git Bash looks for .bashrc directly in your Windows user profile.

C:\Users\YourWindowsUsername\.bashrc

| Tool | File System | .bashrc lives in | |------|-------------|--------------------| | | Virtual Linux | \\wsl.localhost\Ubuntu\home\username\ | | Git Bash | Native Windows | C:\Users\username\ | | MSYS2 | Hybrid | C:\msys64\home\username\ |