Straightforward, easy way to create symbolic links on Windows?

Question

I need something supported at least on Windows XP and not requiring any new user downloads hopefully.

score 114 · Answer 1 · edited Sep 25 '15 at 14:55

Have you looked at Junction?

Also, Windows Vista introduced the mklink command line tool to create symbolic links.

MKLINK [[/D] | [/H] | [/J]] Link Target
    /D      Creates a directory symbolic link.  Default is a file
            symbolic link.
    /H      Creates a hard link instead of a symbolic link.
    /J      Creates a Directory Junction.
    Link    specifies the new symbolic link name.
    Target  specifies the path (relative or absolute) that the new link refers to.

Scott Hanselman has a write-up on it at http://www.hanselman.com/blog/MoreOnVistaReparsePoints.aspx.

If you're speaking solely about Windows XP, I've only ever used the Junction tool.

score 23 · Answer 2 · edited Oct 15 '11 at 00:35

There is a tool called Link Shell Extension which makes it easy to create symlinks to files, as well as an older type of link called a "Junction" (basically, a symlink to a folder) as well as many more exotic types of links.

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Basic usage is simple: Navigate to the source folder, right click on the file or folder you want to link to, and choose the new "Pick Link Source" option from the context menu. Then go to the folder where you want to drop the link, right-click, and select "Drop As" and then either "Symbolic Link" for files or "Junction" for folders.

but

BEWARE: One reason Microsoft makes it hard to do this is that junctions and symlinks can make it very easy to accidentally DELETE CRITICAL FILES!

In some versions prior to Windows 7, deleting a junction or symlink in Explorer would automatically DELETE THE ORIGINAL DIRECTORY as well!

I believe that this problem has now been solved... but of course I make no promises... be particularly careful with third party file browsers (if you're to the point of needing symlinks, I'm sure you're painfully aware of how hard the Windows 7 Explorer blows.)

But I digress. My point is: be careful, do your homework and read the LSE documentation to find out how junctions and symlinks really work, and for gawd's sake BACK EVERYTHING UP before you start messing with junctions and symlinks!

score 9 · Answer 3 · answered Feb 08 '09 at 02:33

the referenced directory should work as if it had actually been added to %PATH%, right

No, if you had C:\bin added to your %PATH% and inside c:\bin you created a Junction called c:\bin\anotherDir\ to point to c:\anotherDir\ so that you could run some.exe from the command line like:

> anotherDir\some.exe

This would not work since the %PATH% variable does not work with sub directories (symlinked or not)

you would need to create a hardlink directly to some.exe, so the hardlink c:\bin\some.exe points to c:\anotherDir\some.exe

So in summary I don't believe you can do exactly what you are asking. That said I do recommend Link Shell Extension for creating Junctions and hardlinks. It offers more capabilities than most junction tools in a very easy to use windows explorer extension

score 7 · Answer 4 · edited Sep 06 '15 at 16:35

7

Try Symlinker a GUI tool to create Symlink in Windows

This application needs .Net Framework 3.5 to run (SP1 recommended) and as of 4/24/2015 this software will only work under

Windows Vista
Windows 7
Windows 8 and 8.1

edited Sep 06 '15 at 16:35

Kux

123
5

answered Mar 28 '10 at 17:27

Taranfx

191

score 7 · Answer 5 · edited Feb 15 '17 at 16:38

7

NATIVE Windows Vista, 7, & 8 COMMAND:

File Symbolic Link (default):
- mklink <oldpath> <newpath>
Directory Symbolic Link:
- mklink /D <oldpath> <newpath>

edited Feb 15 '17 at 16:38

I say Reinstate Monica

26,651

answered Sep 25 '15 at 14:51

BenH

189

Darth Android · Answer 6 · 2010-10-08T03:52:41.723

4

I don't think the version of NTFS that comes with XP supports symbolic links. NTFS6, which ships in Vista and Windows 7, supports symbolic links with the mklink command. The XP version of NTFS does support hardlinks, but these cannot span volumes.

edited Oct 08 '10 at 03:52

answered Oct 08 '10 at 03:35

Darth Android

38,658

Vadzim · Answer 7 · 2017-05-24T07:42:49.990

3

Create symlink in Far Manager: Alt+F6 or F7.

Here is also an insightful acticle on tree types of links in Windows (hardlinks, junction points and symbolic links):

https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=&sl=ru&tl=en&u=https%3A%2F%2Fgeektimes.ru%2Fpost%2F50878%2F

It lists several other tools to create links.

edited May 24 '17 at 07:42

answered May 19 '17 at 20:01

Vadzim

1,342

score 2 · Answer 8 · answered Sep 05 '08 at 22:23

2

Junction is a great utility but one thing to watch for is that junction points look exactly the same as ordinary folders in Windows Explorer.

Use 'junction.exe -s' on the command line to list all junctions in folders and sub-folders.

answered Sep 05 '08 at 22:23

Jonathan Webb

166

score 1 · Answer 9 · answered Sep 04 '19 at 13:03

1

No need 3rd party software. Just use the .bat file :

https://puvox.software/blog/easiest-method-create-symlink-symbolic/

answered Sep 04 '19 at 13:03

T.Todua

4,053

score 0 · Answer 10 · answered Jul 11 '16 at 17:34

0

There's a light weight software called "Easy Symbolic Link" that makes them easy to create with a right click. Try it here:

https://blog.afach.de/?page_id=589

answered Jul 11 '16 at 17:34

The Quantum Physicist

770
4
18
36

score 0 · Answer 11 · answered Apr 01 '21 at 20:46

There is an open-source tool called SymlinkCreator that provides a minimal UI for drag-n-drop both files and folders to be symlinked. It can use both relative paths (if in the same drive) or absolute paths for symlinking. There is an option to retain the script used for symlinking.

Disclaimer: I am the author of SymlinkCreator. I created it for my personal use but then shared it with everyone.

score 0 · Answer 12 · answered Oct 08 '12 at 20:52

0

I used and recommend Junction tool from Microsoft SysInternals: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896768.aspx

Example using cmd.exe:

junction c:\Program-Files "c:\Program Files"

answered Oct 08 '12 at 20:52

Rafael Gorski

161

Straightforward, easy way to create symbolic links on Windows?

12 Answers12

NATIVE Windows Vista, 7, & 8 COMMAND:

Linked