Recently, I accidentally dragged my "Desktop" folder into another folder (/home/[name]/Programs/). I have been trying to return the Desktop folder to its proper place, /home/[name]/.
However, when I try to cut & paste the folder into that directory, it reappears in the Programs folder with a duplicate in /home/[name]/. The sidebar indicates that the "real" Desktop folder is the one that reappeared in /home/[name]/Programs/
I have tried the same cut & paste in both the terminal and using root access. (all 4 combinations) The results are always the same. The real Desktop folder disappears for a moment and reappears. Sometimes the Desktop items in the folder don't reappear with the folder, other times they do, but it seems that a copy of these Desktop items are always put in the new, "fake" Desktop folder.
When hand dragging the Desktop folder from a /home/[name]/Programs tab to a /home/[name] tab, as stated in one of the comments, the desktop folder moves completely normally. (I think I tried this a week ago and it behaved differently) There is no reappearing Desktop folder. However, the sidebar Desktop item give the following error when clicked:
Could not find "/home/[name]/Programs/Desktop".
Please check the spelling and try again.
Also, when running a Desktop item in this state:
There was an error launching the application.
When I tried to move the folder, as stated in one of the answers, using:
cp /home/[name]/Programs /home/[name]
the following returned:
cp: -r not specified; omitting directory '/home/[name]/Programs'
Is there a way to move this special folder back to where it belongs?
/home/[name]/Programs/back to/home/[name]/? And PLEASE don't run it as root! Ever! Not for things that belong to your user.