Finding the Profile Picture Location in Windows 11

# The Challenge
When using Windows 11 with a Microsoft account, your profile picture is displayed in various places throughout the system. However, if you want to access this image file directly, it can be surprisingly difficult to locate.

# Common Paths That Don't Work
I initially searched in several locations that are often mentioned online, but none of them contained my profile picture:

```
C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\AccountPictures
C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\AccountPictures
C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.Windows.Photos_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalState\PhotosAppBackground
C:\Users\[username]\OneDrive\Pictures
C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Local\Temp
C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer
C:\Windows\Web\Screen
C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\User Account Pictures
```

Even using Windows Search to look for image files throughout the system didn't yield results.

# The Solution: Windows Registry
After much investigation, I found that Windows 11 stores references to profile pictures in the Windows Registry. Here's how to locate your profile picture:

Open the Registry Editor (run regedit from the Start menu)
Navigate to this path:
`HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\AccountPicture\Users\[Your-SID]`
Where [Your-SID] is your account's Security Identifier, which looks something like `S-1-5-21-1234567890-1234567890-1234567890-1001`
In this registry key, you'll find several entries for different image sizes (Image1080, Image192, Image208, etc.)
Each entry points to a file path that looks like:
`C:\Users\Public\AccountPictures\[Your-SID]\[filename].jpg`


# Important Note on Accessing the Files
Interestingly, if you try to browse to the `C:\Users\Public\AccountPictures\[Your-SID]\` directory using File Explorer, it will appear empty even with hidden files shown. However, if you use the complete file path (including the filename) from the registry, you can access the image directly with an image viewer.
For example, if the registry shows:
`C:\Users\Public\AccountPictures\S-1-5-21-1234567890-1234567890-1234567890-1001\{B3EF1F1E-3DD5-4A81-9DFC-FC123456789D}-Image1080.jpg`

Copy this full path and paste it into Explorer, and then you can open the image with Image Viewer. You can save it anywhere.

This approach allows you to access your profile picture even though the containing folder appears empty when browsed directly.

# Why I Needed to Find the Profile Picture File

My quest to locate this file began when Skype recently began directing users to Teams. During my first Teams login, I was prompted to choose between using my Microsoft account or my Skype account. Since I wanted to continue using Skype, I naturally selected the Skype account option.
To my surprise, this action silently changed my Microsoft account profile picture to my Skype profile picture across the entire Windows system without any notification or confirmation. This unexpected behavior left me wanting to restore my original profile picture, which is why I needed to locate the actual image file.
Microsoft's insistence on pushing Teams despite user preferences for alternatives like Skype seems to be an ongoing frustration. The lack of transparency in how these services interact with system-wide settings only adds to user confusion. The company's approach of making sweeping changes to user profiles without clear notification represents a troubling trend in how tech companies sometimes prioritize service integration over user autonomy.

 In truth, Teams is a piece of shit!