Desert whitethroat inhabits arid lowland regions from eastern Iran and Turkmenistan eastwards to Xinjiang in central China, breeding in open dry thorn scrub. The breeding range does not overlap with lesser whitethroat, occurring to the southeast of that; it does overlap geographically with Hume's whitethroat but is separated altitudinally. The desert whitethroat migrates south to the Arabian Peninsula, southern Pakistan and northwestern India in the winter, where it does overlap with wintering lesser whitethroat in many areas, and more locally with wintering Hume's whitethroat. Vagrant is Sri Lanka, recorded in single time.