HKEYCURRENTUSERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionRun

HKEY_CURRENT_USER is a registry hive in Windows operating systems that stores configuration data specific to the currently logged-in user. It represents the per-user portion of the Windows registry and maps to the user’s profile data stored on disk (the NTUSER.DAT file). Settings under this hive determine how the user experiences Windows and many installed applications, including preferences for the user interface, software configurations, and environment variables.

The data in HKEY_CURRENT_USER is loaded into memory for the active session and is essentially an alias to the corresponding user-specific key under HKEY_USERS. This means changes affect only the current user unless a program explicitly writes to other users’ registry areas. Common subkeys include Software for application preferences, Environment for per-user environment variables, and various keys under Control Panel and Desktop that influence appearance and behavior. Applications often store user-specific options under Software\<Vendor>\<Product> to keep settings isolated per user.

Access to HKEY_CURRENT_USER is governed by the permissions of the currently logged-in user. Typically, a user has full control over their own hive, while administrators may have broader rights to read or modify settings as part of system administration. Because the hive is tied to the user profile, it is backed by the NTUSER.DAT file, which is loaded at logon and unloaded at logoff. Improper edits can destabilize the user environment or cause software to malfunction, so changes should be made carefully, ideally by exporting the relevant keys before modification.