Desktop Explorer walkthrough
Desktop Explorer full walkthrough and chapter order
Use this page as a route map. It tells you which profile and chapter comes next. Open a focused chapter guide when you need exact actions, or the password page when you only need one answer.
Desktop Explorer is structured around four major profiles: Halibut, Max, Admin and Guppy. The story sometimes moves you away from one profile before its chapter is fully finished, so the safest route is to follow the hand-offs rather than trying to clear every visible folder immediately.
Recommended chapter order
- Halibut: install Desktop Explorer and complete the Cave.
- Halibut: complete all three Temple paths and the scarab podium.
- Max: install Desktop Explorer, enter NextRooms and clear the first Mall floor.
- Admin: recover Desktop Explorer and complete the Tower interlude.
- Max: return to the Photo Lab, finish the second floor and complete the corkboard.
- Guppy: follow the final profile route, revisit changed locations and finish the epilogue.
Part 1: Halibut and the Cave
Open Halibut's openMe folder with guppy, run the installer and start at Puzzle 0. The Cave teaches the game's main language: scroll beyond the visible page, turn on Word Wrap, inspect source code, repair file extensions, read file properties and reveal hidden files.
| Folder | Direct answer | Mechanic being taught |
|---|---|---|
| Puzzle 1 | fortuna | Read the story file. |
| Puzzle 2 | inanna | Scroll to the bottom of a long note. |
| Puzzle 3 | elephas | Use Word Wrap to form an image. |
| Puzzle 4 | salve | Inspect StoryTeller+ source code. |
| Puzzle 5 | portonus | Rename key.err as an image. |
| Puzzle 6 | mmtt | Read the author in file properties. |
| Puzzle 7 | kassandra | Enable hidden files. |
| Altar | rubicon | Combine clues and stack image windows. |
The final security answers are alligator or crocodile, 14, fire and Walter. Enter father before Walter to unlock the missable This Is Not Your Computer achievement.
Open the detailed Cave puzzles 0–10 walkthrough →
Part 2: Halibut and the Temple
Enter the podium chamber with shai. You can start the Anubis, Thoth and Ra routes in any order, but finishing Anubis and Thoth before the end of Ra keeps the route straightforward.
- Anubis: balance the heart and feather, edit the magic word to
INANNA, then recovertopaz.img. - Thoth: assemble the map, use ColorLens, solve the hourglass and keep
sapphire.img. - Ra: repair and duplicate the burning coal, edit the tomb phrase, then keep
ruby.img.
Return to the scarab podium and place Topaz over Spirit, Sapphire over Mind and Ruby over Body. This ends Halibut's main Desktop Explorer chapter.
Open the detailed Anubis, Thoth and Ra walkthrough →
Part 3: Max and NextRooms
Restore DO_NOT_OPEN.folder from Max's Waste Bin, open it with power and install Desktop Explorer. After the prologue and Maze screensaver sequence, log in to NextRooms with The_Max and sweaters123.
Complete the first Time Maze, restore the first-floor circuits and clear the Video, Pet and Magic stores. Then solve the Art Store and second circuit. Before finishing Max's chapter, complete optional Mall interactions needed for achievements: clean a terrarium, draw on the mural, pet the MineSniffer dog, buy every CabiNet prize and try the security-guard mannequin outfit.
Open the detailed Max and NextRooms walkthrough →
Part 4: Admin and the Tower
The story temporarily sends you to Admin. Recover the damaged Chronolog entry with CHRONO RESTORE and the path shame/03-18-1997.res. Use GOLDENRATIO, ADMIN, Y and TAROCCHI through the recovery prompts, then reinstall Desktop Explorer.
Clear the outside gate, Orb Room and Portrait Room before reaching the seventh-floor confrontation. The Tower deliberately changes which commands are available, so use HELP whenever an input stops working.
Open the detailed Admin and Tower walkthrough →
Part 5: Return to Max
After the Tower interlude, return to Max and continue at the Photo Lab. Complete the nonogram door, use the two mannequin outfits in the correct order, take the crime photograph and finish the corkboard sequence. Read the highlighted Chronolog entry and complete Guppy's writing prompt before leaving the chapter.
Part 6: Guppy and the ending
Guppy's chapter revisits files, profiles and Mall locations that now behave differently. Follow Memory Lane, open the protected Halibut folders, solve the G-Admin chessboard and carry the resulting black pawn into the changed NextRooms route.
For Power to the People, create exactly six white pawns before transforming the pieces. Use the black pawn at the sapphire mirror, reveal the fishing lure with the ship mural, collect the ship wheel and repair the helm. Continue through the final Chronolog prompt and WebSurfer link to complete the story.
Open the detailed Guppy and ending walkthrough →
100% cleanup before the ending
- Open all 22 collectible Halibut, Max and Admin Chronolog entries.
- Visit all 31 unique WebSurfer addresses and reopen the browser after the last one.
- Complete every Max/NextRooms optional interaction before the corkboard ending.
- Enter the Kojami Code on the title screen and complete the general desktop achievements.
Use the 23-achievement checklist →
Related Desktop Explorer guides
- Cave puzzles 0–10 walkthrough
- Temple walkthrough
- All passwords and puzzle answers
- All achievements and missables
- Terminal commands and aliases
- Max and NextRooms walkthrough
- Admin and Tower walkthrough
- Guppy and ending walkthrough