!!better!!: Windows Hard Link

echo Hello > original.txt mklink /H link.txt original.txt type link.txt # Output: Hello echo World >> original.txt type link.txt # Output: Hello World /H is the crucial flag—without it, mklink creates a symbolic link by default. New-Item -ItemType HardLink -Path "C:\links\link.txt" -Target "C:\data\original.txt" Or with the shorter alias:

(Get-Item "link.txt").LinkType # Output: HardLink In File Explorer, hard links appear as normal files—there's no special icon or overlay. This is both a feature (no clutter) and a danger (easy to forget they're linked). 1. Deduplication Without Deduplication Features You have the same large ISO file needed in three different project folders. Instead of using 6 GB, create hard links:

| Feature | Hard Link | Symbolic Link | |---------|-----------|----------------| | Points to | File data (inode) | Pathname (string) | | Survives target deletion | Yes (data still exists) | No (becomes broken) | | Works across volumes | No | Yes | | Works with directories | No (by design) | Yes (with privilege) | | Relative paths | N/A | Yes | | Network paths | No | Yes (UNC paths) | windows hard link

Every normal file you create is actually a hard link already—it's just that there's only one link to that data. When you create a second hard link, you're telling Windows: "This data should also appear at this other path."

A symlink is like a sticky note that says "go look in C:\Other\file.txt" . If you move or delete file.txt , the symlink breaks. echo Hello > original

fsutil hardlink list "link.txt" Or in PowerShell:

mklink /H "C:\LegacyApp\config.ini" "D:\SharedConfig\config.ini" Now the legacy app and your modern tool share the same config. When using WSL, files stored in \\wsl$\ are actually on a virtual filesystem. Hard links don't work across the Linux/Windows boundary, but within a Windows NTFS drive, hard links are fully supported. Useful for deduplicating build artifacts between WSL and native Windows tools. Critical Limitations and Dangers ❌ No Directories Windows explicitly blocks creating hard links to directories (NTFS supports them, but Windows disables it to prevent infinite recursion and other filesystem nightmares). When you create a second hard link, you're

In this guide, you'll learn exactly what hard links are, how to create them, when to use them, and the critical pitfalls to avoid. A hard link is an additional directory entry that points directly to the same underlying file data on disk.