Mklink — Windows

Note that deleting a symbolic link does not affect the target file or directory.

To view information about a symbolic link, use the dir command with the /a option:

Windows is packed with powerful, underutilized command-line tools, and is one of the most useful for power users, developers, and administrators. Whether you are running out of space on your main SSD, looking to map network drives to folders, or trying to manage file locations for projects, mklink allows you to create file system links—symbolic links, directory junctions, and hard links—that act as "smarter" shortcuts. mklink windows

For example, mklink /D C:\Projects\Data D:\Data creates a directory symlink, making the folder D:\Data appear as if it resides inside C:\Projects .

The mklink command has a few options:

Mapping local project folders to virtualized environments. How to Use mklink (Command Syntax)

However, mklink is not without risks. Deleting a symlink does not delete the target—unless you accidentally delete the target itself, leaving a broken link. More dangerously, some poorly written applications may follow symlinks in unexpected ways, leading to data loss. For this reason, creating symlinks requires administrator privileges by default (unless developer mode is enabled). Note that deleting a symbolic link does not

When working with symbolic links, keep the following best practices in mind: