Soft Link - Windows

# Move User Downloads folder move "C:\Users\Me\Downloads" "D:\UserData\Downloads" mklink /D "C:\Users\Me\Downloads" "D:\UserData\Downloads" Store data elsewhere, but keep a copy in Dropbox/OneDrive:

dir /AL ← shows all reparse points (symlinks, junctions) Output: windows soft link

mklink "C:\Users\Me\.vimrc" "D:\git\dotfiles\.vimrc" mklink "C:\Users\Me\.bashrc" "D:\git\dotfiles\.bashrc" Same app data for two versions: Troubleshooting ❌ "You do not have sufficient privilege"

cd "C:\ParentFolder" mklink /D "link" "..\OtherFolder\Target" ← two levels up then down Enable first (admin): ❌ "Cannot create a file when that file

# For file link del "C:\link.txt" rmdir "C:\link_folder"

fsutil behavior set SymlinkEvaluation L2R:1 R2L:1 Then create:

mklink /D "C:\NetLink" "\\server\share\folder" Requires target share permissions and access. Allowed but dangerous – if USB is missing, apps may crash or hang. PowerShell New-Item (modern method) # File symlink New-Item -ItemType SymbolicLink -Path "C:\link.txt" -Target "D:\real.txt" Folder symlink New-Item -ItemType SymbolicLink -Path "C:\linkfolder" -Target "D:\realfolder" 8. Troubleshooting ❌ "You do not have sufficient privilege" Fix: Run Command Prompt as Administrator or enable Developer Mode. ❌ "The system cannot find the file specified" Fix: Your target path is wrong or missing. Check spelling and existence. ❌ "Cannot create a file when that file already exists" Fix: The link path already has a real file/folder. Delete/move it first. ❌ "The device does not support symbolic links" Fix: You're trying to create a link on a FAT32/exFAT USB drive. Convert to NTFS or use ReFS. ❌ Symlink works in Explorer but not in apps Fix: Some old apps follow links only if you enable application compatibility :