Symbolic link handling (Windows since Vista and Linux)

FreeFileSync offers three advanced options to configure processing of Symbolic Links (also called Symlinks or Soft Links):

• "Ignore" excludes Symbolic Links while scanning the input directories.
   

• "Direct" configures synchronization of the Symbolic Link object itself and not its target. Symbolic Links will be visible on main grid as a separate entity with corresponding metadata. Links pointing to directories are not traversed and the Link object is copied directly during synchronization.
   

• "Follow" dereferences Symbolic Links, i.e. they are treated like their target objects. Links pointing to directories are traversed like ordinary folders and the target of each Link is copied during synchronization.

Note:

• In Windows the options described above always apply to "Reparse Points". Reparse Points are a more general concept including for example Symbolic Links, Junctions and Mount Points. The term "Symbolic Link" has been retained nevertheless for harmonization with Linux.

• Copying Symbolic Links requires the application to be started with Administrator rights.