How To Fix ‘Filename Is Too Long’ Issue In Windows

There’s an easy fix and one that’s less easy

If you’ve ever seen this issue, it was probably a simple fix for you. If you’ve seen this error more than twice, then you also know that it can be a complex issue to fix sometimes.

Let’s hope you only run into the easy fix variety, but we’ll prepare you for the less easy, guaranteed to work fixes too.

Why Is Filename Length Even An Issue In Windows?

There’s a long history of filename lengths being a problem for operating systems like Windows. There was a time when you couldn’t have filenames longer than 8 characters plus a 3-character file extension. The best you could do was something likemyresume.doc. This was a restriction in place by the design of the file system.

Things got better as new versions of Windows came out. We went from an old, limited, file system to something called the New Technology File System (NTFS). NTFS took us to a point where a filename could be 255 characters long, and the file path length could potentially go up to 32,767 characters. So how can we possibly have filenames that are too long?

Windows has things known as system variables. These are variables that Windows relies upon to function, because Windows will always know what the variables mean and where they are, even when we’re moving bits and bytes all over the place. The system variableMAX_PATHis the one that restricts filenames and file paths to under 260 characters.

Being a variable, you’d think we could change it. No, we should not. It would be like pulling a thread out of a sweater. As soon as one system variable changes, other system variables and components dependent on them start to unravel.

How do we fix it, then?

The Easy Fix

If you’re fortunate, you’ll get the error and know exactly what file’s name is causing the issue. Or at least where to find the file. Maybe you have a filename that looks something like:

It’s obvious who the offender is in this case. Find the file inWindows Explorer, orFile Exploreras it’s called in Windows 10, click once on it, hitF2to rename it, and change that silly filename to something more reasonable. Problem solved.

The Less Easy Fixes

It isn’t always that easy to fix this problem. Sometimes you may not be able to change the names of files or directories for whatever reason.

The following solutions will do the trick for you. They aren’t hard to do.

Sometimes you get an error when trying to move, delete, or copy directories where the character count for the file path is more than 260.

Note that the words directory and folder are interchangeable. We’ll use ‘directory’ going forward. The following PowerShell cmdlets can also be used on files.

Perhaps the file path looks something like:

That file path is 280 characters long. So we cannot copy the directory out of there to somewhere else with the normal copy-paste method.  We get theDestination Path Too Longerror.

Let’s assume that for whatever reason, we can’t rename the directories in which the file is nested. What do we do?

Open PowerShell. If you haven’t used PowerShell yet, enjoy our articleUsing PowerShell for Home Users – A Beginner’s Guide. You can do the next steps without reading the article, though.

When PowerShell opens, you’ll be at the root of your user directory. Follow along assumingC:\Users\guymcis your user directory.

The directory namedThisis inside theDocumentsdirectory. To move into the Documents directory, we use the DOS commandcd Documents.

You’ll see the prompt change toC:\Users\guymc\Documents. That’s good. We’re working closer to the directories which will make things easier.

We want to copy the directoryThisand its contents intoThatNewFolder. Let’s use the PowerShell cmdletCopy-Itemwith the parameters-Destinationand-Recurse.

-Destination tells PowerShell where we want the copy to be. -Recurse tells PowerShell to copy all the items inside to the destination. Copying leaves the originals where they are and makes all new ones in the destination.

Copy-Item This -Destination ThatNewFolder -Recurse

Let’s say we want to move the directory This, and all the directories and files in it, toThatNewFolder. Moving does not leave the original in place.

We can use the PowerShell cmdletMove-Itemwith the parameters-Pathand-Destination. -Path defines the item we want to move and -Destination tells PowerShell where we want it.

The cmdlet will put This inside of ThatNewFolder. It will also move everything that is inside of the This directory. Move-Item can be used to move files or directories, and it works regardless of file path or filename length.

Move-Item -Path This -Destination ThatNewFolder

To make sure it worked, use thecd ThatNewFoldercommand to get intoThatNewFolder. Then use thedircommand to list the directories in ThatNewFolder. You’ll see the This directory is in there.

If we want to delete theThisdirectory, and everything in it, we use theRemove-Itemcmdlet.

The Remove-Item cmdlet has some built-in safety that makes it difficult to delete a directory with things inside of it. In our example, we know we want to delete everything, so we’ll use the parameters-Recurseto make it delete everything inside and-Forceto make it do that without asking us if we’re sure for every item inside.

Be warned! Recovering anything deleted this way would be extremely difficult. You can try the methods inHow to Recover Accidentally Deleted Files, but don’t expect much.

Remove-Item This -Recurse -Force

You can use the dir command again to make sure it is gone.

Make Windows 10 Accept Long File Paths

If you know you’re going to be using long file paths and long file names repeatedly, it’s easier to make Windows work for you. No sense using PowerShell to do the work every day.

There are two ways we can do this. One is for Windows 10 Home users and the other is for Windows 10 Pro or Enterprise users. These methods may work for Windows 8.1 or earlier, but we cannot guarantee that.

To make Windows 10 Home accept long file paths, we need to open theRegistry Editor. If you haven’t worked in Registry Editor before, be cautious. Accidentally deleting or changing things in here can stop Windows from working completely.

Always make a backup of your registry before making any changes. Learn everything you need to know about that in ourUltimate Guide to Backing Up and Restoring the Windows Registry.

Once you have Registry Editor opened, and your backup made, navigate to the locationHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystemand find the keyLongPathsEnabled.

Double-click onLongPathsEnabled. In theValue data:field, make sure the number1is in there. ClickOKto commit the change.

Exit Registry Editor and you should be able to work with crazy long file paths now.

To allow Windows 10 Pro or Enterprise to use long file paths, we’re going to use theGroup Policy Editor. It’s a tool that allows us to set policies on how Windows operates at the computer and the user levels.

We’ve got several articles on using group policy to do things likedisabling or enabling Internet Explorer options, oradding a message to the logon screen.

Open the Group Policy Editor by going to theStartmenu and typing ingpedit. The top result should beEdit group policy. Double-click on that.

Once the Group Policy Editor opens, navigate toComputer Configuration > Administrative Templates > System > Filesystem. Thereyou’ll see the policyEnable Win32 long paths.

Double-click on it to edit the policy setting. Change it fromDisabledtoEnabled, then click theOKbutton to commit the change.

The policy may not take effect right away. You canforce the group policy to update, though.

That’s It

There are some other ways to work around long filenames and file paths, but what we’ve gone through here are the simplest, most effective methods.

Guy has been published online and in print newspapers, nominated for writing awards, and cited in scholarly papers due to his ability to speak tech to anyone, but still prefers analog watches.Read Guy’s Full Bio

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