Complete WSL Directory Access Guide - Windows <-> Ubuntu File Sharing

This guide covers bidirectional paths and practical techniques for finding WSL Ubuntu files from Windows, and Windows files from Ubuntu.

[01] WSL and Windows Filesystem Structure

Once WSL is installed, Windows and Ubuntu each maintain their own filesystem while being able to access one another.

+--------------------------------------------------+
| Windows (C:\Users\...)                           |
|                                                  |
|   Accessing WSL Ubuntu files:                    |
|   \\wsl$\Ubuntu\home\{username}\                 |
|                                                  |
+--------------------------------------------------+
| Ubuntu (WSL)                                     |
|                                                  |
|   Accessing Windows files:                       |
|   /mnt/c/Users/{windows-username}/               |
|                                                  |
+--------------------------------------------------+

[02] Windows -> Ubuntu File Access

2-1. Path format

\\wsl$\Ubuntu\home\{username}

In recent versions of WSL2, the following path also works:

\\wsl.localhost\Ubuntu\home\{username}

2-2. Key directory mappings

Ubuntu path	Access path from Windows
`/home/{user}`	`\\wsl$\Ubuntu\home\{user}`
`/etc`	`\\wsl$\Ubuntu\etc`
`/root`	`\\wsl$\Ubuntu\root`
`/tmp`	`\\wsl$\Ubuntu\tmp`

[03] Ubuntu -> Windows File Access

From Ubuntu, Windows drives are automatically mounted under /mnt/.

Windows path	Access path from Ubuntu
`C:\Users\{user}\Desktop`	`/mnt/c/Users/{user}/Desktop`
`D:\Projects`	`/mnt/d/Projects`
`C:\Program Files`	`/mnt/c/Program Files`

[04] Five Easy Ways to Access WSL Files

4-1. Type the path directly in File Explorer (simplest)

Open Windows File Explorer and enter \\wsl$ in the address bar to see all installed WSL distributions as folders.

\\wsl$

Click the Ubuntu folder to browse the entire filesystem.

4-2. Open Explorer directly from the Ubuntu terminal (fastest)

In an Ubuntu shell, navigate to the desired directory and run the following to open it in Windows Explorer.

# Open the current directory in Explorer
explorer.exe .

# Open a specific directory in Explorer
explorer.exe /home/kcloud/projects

4-3. Map a network drive (for frequent access)

If you access certain WSL paths often, mapping them to a Windows drive letter is convenient.

Right-click “This PC” in File Explorer
Select “Map network drive”
Choose a drive letter (e.g., Z:)
Enter \\wsl$\Ubuntu\home\{username} in the folder field
Check “Reconnect at sign-in”

After that, Z:\ takes you straight to your Ubuntu home directory.

4-4. Open in VS Code

This is the cleanest way to edit WSL files with VS Code.

# Run from the Ubuntu terminal
code .                    # Open the current directory in VS Code
code ~/projects/myapp     # Open a specific project

The VS Code Remote - WSL extension automatically connects to the WSL environment.

4-5. Create a shortcut

You can place a shortcut on the Windows desktop too.

Right-click the desktop -> “New” -> “Shortcut”
Enter \\wsl$\Ubuntu\home\{username} as the location
Name it and finish

[05] Relationship with Remote Servers

WSL directory sharing applies only to the local WSL environment. If you SSH into a remote server from WSL Ubuntu, the remote server’s files are NOT reachable via \\wsl$.

To handle remote server files from Windows, use scp, rsync, or the Remote - SSH extension in VS Code.

# Copy a file from the remote server to local
scp user@10.254.202.91:/home/user/file.txt ~/

# Copy a file from local to the remote server
scp ~/file.txt user@10.254.202.91:/home/user/

[06] Performance Considerations

File operations in WSL have notable performance differences.

Scenario	Performance	Recommended
Working with Ubuntu files inside Ubuntu	Fast	Yes - do development here
Accessing via `\\wsl$` from Windows	Moderate	Yes - for browsing, light edits
Working with Windows files via `/mnt/c/` from Ubuntu	Slow	No - don’t put dev projects here

Key principle: Keep development projects under the Ubuntu filesystem (/home/{user}/), and only reach in from Windows via \\wsl$ or explorer.exe . when you need to view them. This is the most efficient pattern.

[07] Summary

# Windows -> Ubuntu
\\wsl$\Ubuntu\home\{username}

# Ubuntu -> Windows
/mnt/c/Users/{windows-username}

# Open Explorer directly from Ubuntu
explorer.exe .

WSL filesystem sharing is bidirectional, but for performance, the recommended pattern is work inside Ubuntu, view from Windows.

cmaven