Machine and User Path variables are not combined in $Env:Path on restart

Question

Recently whenever I add something to the User Path variable I cannot use it in CMD or Powershell however the System/Machine Path seems to work fine.

When I print out the $Env.Path or do "echo %PATH%" I only get the Machine / system Path without the User Path. Other User environment variables seem to work fine when echoed except for the Path variable.

I can temporarily fix it by writing:
"$env:Path = [System.Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariable("Path","Machine") + ";" + [System.Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariable("Path","User")"

However, this does not fix the fact that applications I use are dependent on the variable and after every restart of the computer and opening a new shell it again only shows the Machine / System Path and not the combined path for System and User.

I have discovered that if I run the CMD or Powershell in elevated priviledges (admin) they get the combined Path. However, with regular priviledges it is not working.

Answer 1

I managed to fix this issue in the end.

If anyone has a similar issue. Make sure that all paths in the env file are working and not linking to a removed folder. Remove dead links or try to resolve them. Remove duplicates. I also removed from the user path items that are already in the System Path.

One or all of these made it eventually work for me. Good luck ;)