With great power comes great responsibility — delete the link, not the target.
mklink /D "C:\Users\Me\OneDrive\Projects" "D:\LocalProjects\Active" Move a bloated game folder from C:\Program Files\HeavyGame to a larger D: drive without reinstalling: soft link windows
mklink "C:\Users\Me\Desktop\report.pdf" "D:\Documents\Q1\report.pdf" With great power comes great responsibility — delete
mklink /D "C:\Program Files\HeavyGame" "D:\Games\HeavyGame" Create desktop shortcuts that behave like real folders: Hard Link vs
| Feature | | Hard Link | Junction | |---------|------------------------|---------------|---------------| | Scope | Files or directories (cross-volume) | Files only (same volume) | Directories only (cross-volume) | | Target deletion | Link becomes broken | Link still points to original data | Becomes broken | | Shows real path | Yes (in properties) | No (appears as original file) | Yes | | Can point to network | Yes (with UNC paths) | No | No |
You create a file that looks and behaves like the real file, but it’s just a signpost to the actual data stored elsewhere. Soft Link vs. Hard Link vs. Junction Windows actually offers three types of links. Here’s the essential distinction: