Question: I'm beginning at Django and I don't know why but it seems like Django can't find my static folder. Here's how I did it :

```
# IN MY SETTINGS FILE
STATIC_URL = '/static/'

# IN MY APP "accounts", IN base.html
 {% load static %}
 <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="{% static 'accounts/basic.css' %}">

# (MAIN FOLDER) -> (accounts (APP)) -> (static) -> (accounts) -> basic.css

```

I tried to put some red color on my h2 but it's not working, and I see no mistakes.

Sorry if this is a dupe but it seems like it has no mistakes for me and I'm lost..
Thanks !

Answer: 
Make sure to add these two lines to the `settings.py` file 

```
STATIC_URL = '/static/'
STATIC_ROOT = os.path.join(BASE_DIR, 'static')

```

Or use `STATICFILES_DIRS` instead of `STATIC_ROOT` if it does not work 

```
STATIC_URL = '/static/'
STATICFILES_DIRS = (
  os.path.join(BASE_DIR, 'static/'),
) 

```

Also make sure the static folder is in the root of your project

```
project
    project
        settings.py
        urls.py
        wsgi.py
    app1
    app2
    static

```
You can keep your static files anywhere you want by defining a path in the `STATICFILES_DIRS` but @taoufik method is right there is nothing wrong defining the path like that.