When the Arduino PLC IDE is installed on Windows, the installer requires administrator privileges (UAC). As a result, the tool folder containing background tools (such as Arduino CLI) is created under the administrator’s profile at:

C:\Users\<admin_user>\AppData\Local\T

If you checked the “Run Arduino PLC IDE now” option at the end of the installation process, the application initially launched under the administrator’s security context, allowing compilation to succeed. However, once you close the application and reopen it later as a standard user, compilation will fail.

If a standard (non-administrator) user opens PLC IDE and tries to compile a project, they may encounter the following error in the Resources tab of the Output panel:

Cannot generate profile file (error message: Error: Path not found)

This happens because the required T folder is missing from the standard user’s AppData\Local directory.

Solution 1: Run the configuration script (Recommended)

You can automatically set up the required configuration for your standard user using a batch script. This method is the simplest and does not require access to the administrator’s user profile folders (which may be restricted in some corporate or managed IT environments).

1. Download configure-plc-ide-standard-user.bat or view the script source code on GitHub.
2. Double-click the downloaded .bat file to run it.
3. Open PLC IDE as the standard user and select Project > Compile.
4. Since the script configures a clean environment, Arduino CLI will automatically download and install the required tools and libraries upon your first compilation (requires an internet connection).

Solution 2: Copy the T folder (Manual alternative)

If you do not have an internet connection during the first compilation or cannot run batch files, you can copy the files manually:

1. Sign into Windows or open File Explorer as the administrator account that installed PLC IDE.

2. Navigate to:

   C:\Users\<admin_user>\AppData\Local

3. Copy the folder named T.

4. Paste the T folder into the standard user’s local AppData directory:

   C:\Users\<standard_user>\AppData\Local

5. Open the newly copied T folder inside the standard user’s profile:

   C:\Users\<standard_user>\AppData\Local\T

6. Delete the file arduino-cli.yaml from this folder.

   Important

   Deleting arduino-cli.yaml is required. If left intact, compiling will fail with a path configuration error (such as Error: invalid path creating config dir... Cannot create a file when that file already exists) because it points to the admin user’s paths. PLC IDE will automatically generate a new arduino-cli.yaml file with correct paths when the standard user compiles a project.

7. Open PLC IDE as the standard user and select Project > Compile. The project should compile successfully.

Solution 3: Run PLC IDE as administrator

If copying the folder is not possible, the standard user can run PLC IDE with administrator credentials:

1. Right-click the Arduino PLC IDE shortcut on the desktop or Start Menu.
2. Select Run as administrator.
3. Enter the credentials for the specific administrator account that originally installed PLC IDE (as that is the profile possessing the required T folder).