How to list all symbolic links on Windows

Symbolic links and junctions are invisible in normal directory listings — they appear as regular folders or files in File Explorer and most tools. When auditing a system, troubleshooting a broken path, or reviewing a server you inherited, knowing where the links are and what they point to is essential. This article covers the commands for finding all symbolic links, junctions, and hard links on Windows — from a single folder to an entire drive.

Quick answer

:: List all symlinks and junctions in current directory
dir /AL

:: List all symlinks and junctions recursively on C:\
dir /AL /S C:\

CMD: dir /AL

dir /AL lists only entries with the reparse point attribute — which covers symbolic links and junctions. This is the fastest built-in method and works on all Windows versions without additional tools.

:: Show symlinks and junctions in the current directory only
dir /AL

:: Show symlinks and junctions recursively from a specific path
dir /AL /S "C:\Users\username"

:: Full drive scan — can be slow on large volumes
dir /AL /S C:\

Example output:

 Volume in drive C is Windows
 Volume Serial Number is A1B2-C3D4

 Directory of C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming

25/03/2026  09:14    <JUNCTION>     MyBigApp [D:\Config\MyBigApp]

 Directory of C:\Users\username

25/03/2026  10:02    <SYMLINKD>    OneDriveGames [C:\Users\username\OneDrive\GameSaves]

The tag in angle brackets identifies the link type:

Tag in outputLink type
<JUNCTION>Directory junction (mklink /J)
<SYMLINKD>Directory symbolic link (mklink /D)
<SYMLINK>File symbolic link (mklink without switch)
Note: Hard links do not have the reparse point attribute and do not appear in dir /AL output. Use fsutil to inspect hard links — see the section below.

CMD: fsutil

fsutil gives lower-level access to NTFS structures. Use it to inspect reparse point details on a specific path, or to find all hard links pointing to a file.

:: Check whether a specific path is a reparse point (symlink or junction)
fsutil reparsepoint query "C:\LinkedFolder"

:: List all hard link paths for a specific file
fsutil hardlink list "C:\App1\Logs\output.log"

Example output for a junction:

Reparse Tag Value : 0xa0000003
Tag value: Microsoft
Tag value: Name Surrogate
Tag value: Mount Point

Substitute Name : \??\D:\Config\MyBigApp
Print Name      :
Note: fsutil reparsepoint query returns raw NTFS data. The Substitute Name field shows the actual target path. For most audit purposes, dir /AL is sufficient — use fsutil when you need to confirm the exact NTFS reparse tag or target path of a specific entry.

PowerShell: Get-ChildItem

PowerShell’s Get-ChildItem exposes the LinkType property on filesystem objects. This makes it easy to filter, format, and export link inventory in a structured way.

# List all symlinks and junctions in a directory (non-recursive)
Get-ChildItem -Path "C:\Users\username" |
    Where-Object { $_.LinkType -ne $null } |
    Select-Object Name, LinkType, Target

# Recursive scan of an entire drive
# -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue skips permission-denied paths
Get-ChildItem -Path "C:\" -Recurse -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue |
    Where-Object { $_.LinkType -ne $null } |
    Select-Object FullName, LinkType, Target

Example output:

FullName                                       LinkType   Target
--------                                       --------   ------
C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\MyBigApp     Junction   {D:\Config\MyBigApp}
C:\Users\username\OneDriveGames               SymbolicLink {C:\Users\username\OneDrive\GameSaves}

To export the results to a CSV file for documentation or review:

# Export all symlinks and junctions on C:\ to a CSV file
Get-ChildItem -Path "C:\" -Recurse -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue |
    Where-Object { $_.LinkType -ne $null } |
    Select-Object FullName, LinkType, Target |
    Export-Csv -Path "C:\bat\symlink-audit.csv" -NoTypeInformation
Result: A CSV file at C:\bat\symlink-audit.csv with a full inventory of all links found — ready to share or import into a spreadsheet.

Hidden gems

Windows creates its own junctions — expect noise on a full drive scan

Running dir /AL /S C:\ or a recursive PowerShell scan will include system-created junctions such as C:\Users\All Users, C:\Documents and Settings, and entries inside C:\ProgramData. These are part of the Windows compatibility layer and are not user-created. Filter them out by excluding C:\ProgramData and paths under C:\Windows when auditing for user or admin-created links only.

# Scan C:\ but exclude Windows system paths to reduce noise
Get-ChildItem -Path "C:\" -Recurse -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue |
    Where-Object {
        $_.LinkType -ne $null -and
        $_.FullName -notmatch "^C:\\Windows" -and
        $_.FullName -notmatch "^C:\\ProgramData"
    } |
    Select-Object FullName, LinkType, Target

Hard links require a different approach

Hard links do not appear in dir /AL or Get-ChildItem link filtering because they have no reparse point attribute. The only built-in way to detect them is fsutil hardlink list on a specific file. If you need to audit hard links across a volume, third-party tools such as Sysinternals du or hardlink tools provide more complete coverage.

Where this matters

System audit after inheritance — when taking over a server or workstation from another admin, a quick dir /AL /S reveals any unexpected redirections or legacy junctions before they cause confusion.

Troubleshooting broken paths — if an application reports a missing path that visually exists in Explorer, check whether it is a broken symlink pointing to a deleted or moved target.

Backup verification — before setting up a backup job, identify which folders are junctions or symlinks so the backup policy can be configured to handle them correctly rather than duplicating or skipping data unexpectedly.

Documentation of link-based environments — development setups and deployment scripts often rely on symlinks to share configs or data. Exporting the inventory to CSV provides a baseline record that can be version-controlled alongside the environment.

Tips and limitations

  • dir /AL /S C:\ is slow on large volumes — scope it to a specific path when possible
  • PowerShell recursive scans require -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue to skip protected system paths without stopping
  • Hard links are not detectable by dir /AL or Get-ChildItem link filtering — use fsutil hardlink list per file
  • System junctions under C:\Windows and C:\ProgramData are normal — do not remove them
  • The Target property in PowerShell output returns an array — displayed with braces {} in the console but accessible as a string in scripts via $_.Target[0]

Official reference

dir — Windows Commands | Microsoft Learn

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