Note that Windows does not support Hard Links or Junction Points to directories on remote shares however, Symbolic Links can point to remote files and directories on SMB network paths. Currently, Hard Links, Junction Points and Symbolic Links in Windows are only supported for the NTFS file system.
Because the development of linking in Windows has been relatively recent and ongoing, a number of different linking methods have been included, supported, or made available as third-party add-ons depending on the Windows version. Hard Linking for files and support for directory hard links (Junction Points) have been present in Windows since Win2K – often using different implementations in each succeeding Windows version. Symbolic Linking was introduced in Vista to replace Hard Links and Junction Points and to enhance compatibility with UNIX and UNIX-like systems. When given a choice, most professionals recommend using Symbolic Links.Īlthough Symbolic Linking has been around since 1978 and shortly thereafter standardized in UNIX and UNIX-like Operating Systems, it’s been present in Windows only since Vista. Of the three, Symbolic Links are more similar to shortcuts than either Hard links or Junction Points, and they are generally more flexible, easier to use, and safer. Often confused with shortcuts as well as with each other, Hard links, Symbolic links and Junction Points are not the same although like shortcuts, deleting either links or junction points usually won’t delete the target and vice versa (see exceptions below). Symbolic Link (or soft link) is a file similar to a shortcut in that it points to a file name or directory name, but it’s handled at the system level rather than at the application level.
Junction Point (or directory hard link) is a type of hard link that acts like a representation of a directory, a partition or another volume. Hard Link (or file hard link) – is a file that acts like a representation of another file on the same drive without actually duplicating that file. Hard Links, Junction Points and Symbolic Links are linking mechanisms used to refer to other files, directories, or volumes.
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