1. Executive Summary Symbolic links (or symlinks) are file system objects that point to another file or directory. In Windows, they function similarly to shortcuts but at the file system level, allowing applications and commands to transparently follow the link without knowing the target’s actual location. This report covers their types, creation methods, use cases, limitations, and security considerations. 2. Types of Symbolic Links in Windows Windows supports three main types of links:

# File symlink mklink link.txt C:\real\file.txt mklink /D MyFolderLink D:\ActualFolder Relative symlink mklink /D link_to_sub ..\SubFolder 4.2 Using PowerShell PowerShell can create symlinks via New-Item :

mklink [[/D] | [/H] | [/J]] <Link> <Target> | Option | Type | |--------|------| | /D | Directory symbolic link | | (no flag) | File symbolic link | | /H | Hard link | | /J | Directory junction |