<blockquote>
<p><strong>how does the .exe know every time where to start?</strong></p>
</blockquote>
<p>On Microsoft Windows The Bitcoin Core GUI application stores the name of the data directory in the Windows Registry at registry key <code>Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Bitcoin\Bitcoin-Qt\strDataDir</code></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-08-26T17:35:16.973Z
2023-08-26T17:35:16.973Z
RedGrittyBrick
<p>When I first started my bitcoin core node (version v23.0.0), it asked for directory where to start. I chose a different drive.  However, how does the .exe know every time where to start? I cannot find a configuration file where the data directory is specified. I do not use --datadir every time. Also, how do I make sure that it is reading the bitcoin.conf file in my working directory E:\bitcoin?</p>

<windows><bitcoin.conf><datadir>
about bitcoin starting directory and .conf location
ondawoad
# about bitcoin starting directory and .conf location

(Asked by: username_0 on 2023-08-26)

When I first started my bitcoin core node (version v23.0.0), it asked for directory where to start. I chose a different drive. However, how does the .exe know every time where to start? I cannot find a configuration file where the data directory is specified. I do not use --datadir every time. Also, how do I make sure that it is reading the bitcoin.conf file in my working directory E:\bitcoin?

**Tags:** windows, bitcoin.conf, datadir


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2023-08-26. Score: 1

> **how does the .exe know every time where to start?**

On Microsoft Windows The Bitcoin Core GUI application stores the name of the data directory in the Windows Registry at registry key `Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Bitcoin\Bitcoin-Qt\strDataDir`


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