I want to keep my project inside Scrivener, but it keeps migrating to the desktop and I have no idea why. It wasn’t doing this yesterday. I don’t want to keep my project on my desktop.
When I open Scrivener and click “open existing project,” I get nothing because my project has somehow gone to the desktop.
Why is it going nuts all of a sudden? I only have a little more than an hour a night to work, and it’s all being used up on really strange malfunctions. So depressing.
First off, Scrivener projects are files that you open using the Scrivener application. They are stored on your drive just like any other type of file. So it doesn’t really make sense to want to keep your project inside Scrivener. It’s just an application, there is no “inside” (well technically there is but you really shouldn’t be putting files there!). I suggest you find your project file on the drive, if it is on the desktop that makes it easy, and then move it to a location you prefer. You can then just double-click on the project file itself to open it, or navigate to that spot within Scrivener using the File/Open command.
I am not sure why files are moving around on your computer without your knowledge, however. That isn’t something that Scrivener can even do, so likely it is some other program doing this, or accidental click and drags.
Oh, I see.
I was confused because the first few times I used it, the file opened when I opened Scrivener. It didn’t ask me to choose anything.
Maybe it was malfunctioning then, and I just thought it was the way it should always work.
The real problem for me is that it seems to change the way it works… it does different things at different times.
By default, when you launch it, Scrivener opens any projects that were open when you quit Scrivener the last time. I can assure you that it does not change the way it works or do different things at different times unless you ask it to. 
Best,
Keith
AFAIK Scriv opens any projects you were working on that were still open when you last ran Scrivener.
If you’d closed your project before exiting Scriv, it would ask you what to do the next time you Open it. (New / Existing/ Open Tutorial). I normally ignore the splash screen and go File > Recent Projects >…
as I’m constantly forgetting what filing system I’m using this week / month / on this computer etc.
What is sometimes confusing is what folder is chosen as the start location for ‘Open an Existing Project’ - as I frequently didn’t mean to be in that folder (whatever it is). But that’s PEBKAC for you…
I suggest that you create a folder in Documents called Scrivener Projects.
Then move every one of YOUR items ending in .scriv there.
That way, if you shift from one project to another, they’ll all be in the same folder.
And get used to referring to a .scriv as a project, not a file.
Because, in fact, each project consists of many elements, but the System sees it as one.
And, if you haven’t spent time with the tutorial, give it a try!
Check your Preferences for Scrivener, in the General section near the top is an option which toggles whether or not projects you were working on will be re-opened. You might have accidentally disabled that. It is probably more likely what monkquixote said, though. If you close the project before you quit Scrivener, there is nothing for it to remember to open up automatically next time.