Custom Connectors path unavailable

Hi, I've been trying to get a custom connector to show up in the selection of connectors in PBI Desktop, but the location for custom connectors isn't created when PBI desktop is installed ([Documents]\Microsoft Power BI Desktop\Custom Connectors). Even if I create this location, PBI won't pull in custom connectors. 

Things I have tried:

1. yes, security settings for allowing unapproved connectors is set

2. tried looking in other users "Documents" to see if it was created under an admin or local user

3. tried creating folder under other users

4. tried older versions of PBI

5. tried older operating systems uncluding older versions of windows 10 and server 2012 R2

6. tried changing the name of the "Microsoft Power BI Desktop" to "Power BI Desktop" (I've seen documentation listing both :smileyindifferent:)

7. tried placing it with approved non-custom connectors

8. tried re-installing with "as admin" in case privileges were preventing the folder creation

9. googled for hours