Windows 10 & 11 Hard Links Guide: Create NTFS File Links With mklink and PowerShell

What a hard link actually is​

Microsoft's fsutil documentation describes a hard link as a directory entry for a file, and every file already has at least one. The original name is a hard link too. Creating another one adds a name, not a duplicate.

Microsoft says a single NTFS file can appear in many directories, or in the same directory under different names. The data stays on disk once. Edit it through any name and every other name shows the change.

This differs from a shortcut, which points at a path that can break. It also differs from a copy, which is a separate file with its own data. After creation, no name is the "original". You can delete the first name and the file lives on. Microsoft's Win32 documentation says you can delete hard links in any order, and the data is removed only when the last link goes.

A 5 GB vacation video linked into a second folder therefore takes up 5 GB, not 10 GB.

The rules that trip people up​

• Same volume only. Microsoft's Win32 documentation says hard links can't reference files on different volumes. A link from C: to D: is not permitted, and neither is a link to a mapped network drive.
• Files only. The same page says hard links can't reference directories.
• File system matters. Microsoft's comparison table lists hard links as supported on NTFS and UDF, and not on exFAT or FAT32. For everyday Windows use, think "same NTFS volume".
• Not a backup. Every name opens the same data. If the file is corrupted or overwritten, every link shows the damage. This follows from how links work, not from any Microsoft warning.
• Some apps break the link. Microsoft's USMT documentation notes that some applications save by creating a temporary file and renaming the original. The path you didn't edit through can then keep pointing at the unmodified file. Don't assume every save keeps the links in sync.
• Reported sizes can mislead. Microsoft's NTFS disk-space troubleshooting article says Explorer and the command prompt show linked files at full size even though they share the same data. Two 5 GB entries do not mean 10 GB used. That article was written for Windows Server 2003, but the behavior it describes is how links work.
• Attribute quirks. Microsoft notes that changing something like the read-only flag on one link may not show on the others, even though it applies to the file.

A third-party summary on Wikipedia also says Windows enforces a limit of 1,024 hard links per file on NTFS. I couldn't confirm that figure in Microsoft's own pages, so treat it as secondary.

Create a hard link in Command Prompt​

Microsoft documents mklink as available on Windows 10 and Windows 11, with /h selecting a hard link. The new link comes first and the existing file second:

mklink /H "C:\Path\To\NewLink.ext" "C:\Path\To\ExistingFile.ext"

• Without /H, mklink creates a symbolic link by default.
• mklink is a Command Prompt command. It isn't a native PowerShell command.
• How-To Geek says hard links need no administrator rights. Third-party guides say the same. Symbolic links are the ones that commonly need elevation.
• The new path must not already exist, and both paths must be on the same NTFS volume.

Create a hard link in PowerShell​

Microsoft's New-Item documentation covers file-system items. How-To Geek gives this form, and the HardLink item type is the one commonly used for this:

New-Item -ItemType HardLink -Path "C:\Path\To\NewLink.ext" -Target "C:\Path\To\ExistingFile.ext"

Here -Path is the new link and -Target is the existing file.

Check what is linked​

Microsoft documents a verb that lists every path to a file:

fsutil hardlink list "C:\Path\To\File.ext"

Run it before deleting anything, so you know which other names exist. fsutil hardlink create <newfilename> <existingfilename> is a third way to make a link.

Optional: a right-click tool​

Windows has no built-in graphical option for hard links. How-To Geek recommends Link Shell Extension, a free tool by Hermann Schinagl. It adds "Pick Link Source" and "Drop As" entries to the Explorer menu and can mark linked files with a red arrow. It also has a "Hardlink Clone" option that recreates a folder tree with every file hard linked.

I couldn't verify the tool's current version, installer behavior or compatibility. Check its documentation before installing, and make sure Explorer isn't mid-copy when it restarts.

A note on the history​

How-To Geek says Windows NT 3.1 introduced NTFS with limited hard-link support, Windows 2000 opened the capability to regular apps, and Windows Vista added mklink. I found no Microsoft page that confirms that timeline in full, so treat the "30-year" framing as the publication's claim. Also, one third-party PDF I found says hard links work on NTFS from Windows NT 4.0 onward and says ReFS does not support them. I haven't verified that ReFS claim against Microsoft's documentation.

When hard links are worth using​

• Keeping one large media file visible in two organizational folders.
• Sharing the same large asset between apps that expect different folder layouts.
• Giving a file a second name without paying for a second copy.

If you need two versions that can diverge, or a safety net, use a real copy or a proper backup instead.

Bottom line​

A hard link is a second name for one file on the same NTFS volume. It saves space, but it protects nothing, and apps that save by swapping files can quietly break it. Learn mklink /H and fsutil hardlink list, and you can use them safely.