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Visio default working folders are the locations (or file paths) on your computer where Visio looks for and saves files by default. They hold drawings, templates, help files, and add-ons. These folders are established based on settings made during the Visio installation, and in some cases are related to the user name of the person who was logged into Windows when Visio was installed.

Here are the typical installation file paths for Visio working folders:

• Documents and Settings\[user name]\My Documents folder  Default working folder for drawings, custom templates, and file types created with Visio.
• Documents and Settings\[user name]\My Documents\My Shapes folder  Default working folder for custom stencils.
• Program Files\Microsoft Office\Visio 11\[language]  Default working folder for templates, stencils, and help files shipped with Visio.

Note  Visio always looks in this location for Visio-installed files, and Visio does not find custom files, templates, or stencils that are added to this location.

• Documents and Settings\[user name]\Application Data\Microsoft\Addins folder  Default browse location for add-ons from the COM Add-Ins dialog box.

If you use another folder on a regular basis for any of these types of files, except for stencils, you can change the default working folder by adding file paths. The file paths you add are in addition to the installed working folders. If you change the default working folder, you can still open files from or save files to other locations by browsing.

Note  The default working folder for custom stencils is always the My Shapes folder, which means that Visio uses the My Shapes folder as the default when you use the Open Stencil or Save As dialog boxes to open or save custom stencils. If you delete the My Shapes folder, Visio creates another one the next time it's opened. If you want to keep your custom stencils in another folder, you can add the file path to the Stencils text box, as described below.

To change working folders

1. On the Tools menu, click Options.
2. On the Advanced tab, click File Paths.
3. Click the Browse button and navigate to the location you want to add for one or more of the following:

Drawings  The additional location of drawings, custom templates, custom stencils, and other file types. Add a file path here to make it the default working folder. If you add more than one file path, the first one is the default working folder. If the first folder is not available, such as a network share that may be temporarily unavailable, Visio uses the next folder in the list. Property report definitions that are saved to these locations are available in the Reports dialog box. See About property reports for more information.

Templates  The additional location of templates (template: A Visio file (drawing type) with a .vst extension that opens with the stencils, styles, and settings you need to create a particular type of drawing.). Add one or more file paths here to have templates in those locations listed on the New submenu under the File menu, as well as in the Other category folder on the Choose Drawing Type window. Subfolders of the locations you add are also listed.

Stencils  The additional location of stencils. Add one or more file paths here to have stencils in those locations listed on the Shapes submenu under the File menu. Subfolders of the locations you add are also listed.

Help  The additional location of Help files.

Add-ons  The additional location of add-ons.

Start-up  The additional location for add-ons that are loaded and available after you start Visio.

4. Click OK twice.

Note  You can specify multiple file paths by separating them with semicolons.

See Also

For detailed information about using these settings in automation, see the following articles on the Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) web site:

Application Object

Addons Collection

Addon Object

AddonPaths Property

HelpPaths Property

InvokeHelp Method

Path Property

StencilPaths Property

StartupPaths Property

TemplatePaths Property

EnumDirectories Method