What are $BaseDirectory and $UserBaseDirectory?

Application packages that are not part of a standard Mathematica distribution are installed by default into the location specified by $BaseDirectory. Application packages installed in this location will be accessible to all users. Application packages intended for one particular user should be installed in the user-specific location specified by $UserBaseDirectory.

To see the exact location of these directories on your machine, evaluate the command $BaseDirectory or $UserBaseDirectory in a notebook.

For additional information on installing and using application packages, open Mathematica the Help Browser and navigate to Add-ons → Working With Add-ons.

Download this FAQ as a Mathematica 5.2 Notebook

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