Creating a folder in Program Files using `Directory.CreateDirectory` makes that folder inaccessible

[IviriusMain]

Describe the bug

Creating a folder in Program Files does not make it accessible in File Explorer as it's lacking the Directory attribute

Steps to reproduce the bug

Use the code below to create a folder inside Program Files - the start menu part can be ignored

Expected behavior

The folder should be visible in File Explorer

Screenshots

No response

NuGet package version

Windows App SDK 1.8 Experimental 2: 1.8.250515001-experimental2

Packaging type

Unpackaged

Windows version

Windows 11 version 24H2 (26100, June 2025 Update)

IDE

Visual Studio 2022

Additional context

Both packaged and unpackaged have this problem in my experience, but this code is currently running in an unpackaged project

[castorix]

I cannot reproduce your problem on Windows 10 22H2
This creates a normal directory in C:\Program Files (as Admin)

            {
                var sProgramFilesPath = System.Environment.GetFolderPath(System.Environment.SpecialFolder.ProgramFiles);
                var sDirectoryPath = Path.Combine(sProgramFilesPath, "Rebound");
                if (!Directory.Exists(sDirectoryPath))
                    Directory.CreateDirectory(sDirectoryPath);              
            }

[DarranRowe]

First of all, it should be invalid to try to set the directory attribute on anything. This comes from the NTFS driver in that a filesystem object created as a directory will always have the directory attribute. This can also be seen in the Windows API documentation for SetFileAttributes.

"Files cannot be converted into directories. To create a directory, use the CreateDirectory or CreateDirectoryEx function."

This is next to FILE_ATTRIBUTE_DIRECTORY in the Remarks section. This means that if you are creating a filesystem object and it doesn't have the directory attribute already, then either you didn't create it using the directory creation functionality, or you tried to create a directory that had the same name as an existing file.

The other option is that you somehow managed to get rid of the application manifest attached to the .NET host executable. If the application does not have an application manifest and you try to write to Program Files, then the Windows XP compatibility functionality will kick in and instead create the directory in your user profile. The location that it is created would be %LocalAppData%\VirtualStore\<matching path as to where it was going to be created>. So if the system drive is C, and the path the directory was going to be created at was C:\Program Files\MyApp\Directory, then it would instead be created at C:\Users\<your profile>\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files\MyApp\Directory.

[ssparach]

Thanks for the question! The code shared is external to the Windows App SDK. For any issues related to it, please file a report via Feedback Hub.

[yoshiask]

@ssparach this is not a bug report for File Explorer. Some code using Windows App SDK is not behaving as expected with respect to file system virtualization. Please reopen this issue.

[ssparach]

@IviriusMain @yoshiask Could you try running the sample without referencing the WinAppSDK—for instance, from a self-contained .NET Core app?
If the issue only reproduces with a WindowsAppSDK reference, it would be super helpful if you could share a minimal repro sample so we can take a closer look.
Thanks in advance!