```
[Desktop Entry]
Name=Splash
Icon=
Type=Application
Terminal=false
Encoding=UTF-8
Version=1.0
Categories=Applications;Splash
Exec=vlc --quiet -f --no-video-title-show /$HOME/videos/boot_video.mp4 vlc://quit

```

---

```
[Desktop Entry]
Name=Splash
Icon=
Type=Application
Terminal=false
Encoding=UTF-8
Version=1.0
Categories=Applications;Splash
Exec=vlc --quiet -f --no-video-title-show $HOME/videos/boot_video.mp4 vlc://quit

```

Neither of the above pieces of code will start the video after my PC boots. However, if I do not use the $HOME variable and explicitly call out the path to the video, the video starts no problem. 

The code below starts the video with no issues. 

```
[Desktop Entry]
Name=Splash
Icon=
Type=Application
Terminal=false
Encoding=UTF-8
Version=1.0
Categories=Applications;Splash
Exec=vlc --quiet -f --no-video-title-show /home/TestUser/videos/boot_video.mp4 vlc://quit

```

---

In terminal, when I type $HOME, I see the output of "bash: /home/TestUser: Is a directory". I'm very new to .desktop files and having a difficult time here. Appreciate the help! 

Cheers!