Programming Considerations (Local File Systems)
Keep the following programming considerations in mind when working with symbolic links:
Symbolic links can point to a non-existent target.
When creating a symbolic link, the operating system does not check to see if the target exists.
If an application tries to open a non-existent target, ERROR_FILE_NOT_FOUND is returned.
Symbolic links are reparse points. For more information, see Determining Whether a Directory Is a Mounted Folder.
There is a maximum of 63 reparse points (and therefore symbolic links) allowed in a particular path.
Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP: There is a limit of 31 reparse points on any given path.
Related topics
Feedback
Coming soon: Throughout 2024 we will be phasing out GitHub Issues as the feedback mechanism for content and replacing it with a new feedback system. For more information see: https://aka.ms/ContentUserFeedback.
Submit and view feedback for