What is the 260 character MAX_PATH limitation?
In the Windows API (with some exceptions discussed in the following paragraphs), the maximum length for a path is MAX_PATH, which is defined as 260 characters. A local path is structured in the following order: drive letter, colon, backslash, name components separated by backslashes, and a terminating null character.
What is the character limit for a file path?
While Windows’ standard file system (NTFS) supports paths up to 65,535 characters, Windows imposes a maximum path length of 255 characters (without drive letter), the value of the constant MAX_PATH.
Does File Explorer have a character limit?
Overview. The File Explorer in Windows Operating systems has a 255 character path limit.
How do you fix Cannot open the file because the file path is more than 259 characters?
The answer is to rename the file, the folders or move the file to a shorter path. There is a registry key that allows you to have long file paths now.
How do I open more than 255 characters?
The simplest way to fix this is to:
- Substitute the folder that has a long file path with a drive letter (thereby shortening the overall character count for the files contained in the folder)
- Copy or move the files out of the folder into another folder that won’t violate the limit.
- Delete the mapped folder.
How can I copy more than 256 characters?
Windows has a limitation where the entire path to a file cannot be over 255 characters. Microsoft has a command line copy program called “Robocopy” (Robust Copy) that can copy files without this limitation. ROBOCOPY will accept UNC pathnames including UNC pathnames over 256 characters long.
How do I open a long path file?
How to Open Files with Very Long Paths on the Windows Client
- Rename the file so that it has a shorter name.
- Rename one or more folders that contain the file so that they have shorter names.
- Move the file to a folder with a shorter path name.”