Windows 10: Win 10/11 Long Path Enabled Does not Work in Registry

It's crazy that after all these years Windows still doesn't support long paths over 260 characters for Windows Explorer. They created a registry entry to Enable long paths but it's not supported by File Explorer. I have been using Robocopy and other utilities as a workaround but, C'mon already it's 2024

:)

 

Long Path Enabled Does not Work

Hello, I'm Felipe and I'm an independent Community Advisor, and I'll do my best to help you.

I'm sorry to hear that you're having trouble enabling long path names in Windows 10. Here are some steps you can try:

Check if your version of Windows 10 supports long path names. Long path names were added in Windows 10 version 1607 and later. You can check your version of Windows 10 by going to Settings > System > About.

Check if long path names are enabled in the registry. You can do this by opening the Registry Editor (regedit.exe) and navigating to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem. Look for the value "LongPathsEnabled" and make sure it is set to 1.

Check if the group policy setting is configured to enable long path names. Open the Group Policy Editor (gpedit.msc) and navigate to Local Computer Policy > Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > System > Filesystem. Look for the "Enable Win32 long paths" policy and make sure it is set to "Enabled".

Restart your computer after making any changes to the registry or group policy settings.

If you're still having trouble, try using a third-party tool like Long Path Tool to rename or delete files with long path names.

I hope this helps!

 

Enabling long file path name does not work on Windows 11

Enabling long file path names should allow you to use paths longer than 260 characters in Windows 11.

However, there are a few things to check to ensure that it is properly enabled:

1. Check that the policy editor changes were saved correctly: Make sure that the changes you made in the policy editor were saved correctly by opening the policy editor and checking that the changes you made are still there.
   
2. Check that the registry changes were saved correctly: Make sure that the changes you made in the registry editor were saved correctly by opening the registry editor and checking that the changes you made are still there.
   
3. Check that your system is running the correct version of Windows 11: Ensure that your system is running the correct version of Windows 11 that supports long file paths. You can check this by going to "Settings" > "System" > "About" and looking under "Windows specifications" for the "Edition" and "Version" information.
   
4. Check that the program you are using supports long file paths: Not all programs support long file paths, so make sure the program you are using has been updated to support long file paths.
   
5. Check that your file path does not contain invalid characters: Make sure your file path does not contain any invalid characters, such as <, >, |, ?, *, or :, as these characters are not allowed in file paths.
   

If you have checked all of the above and long file paths still do not work, you may want to consider using a third-party tool that supports long file paths, such as <removed>

Let me know if this was helpful or if you require additional help.

 

long paths enabled not working windows 11

The GroupPolicy sets the registry value. Doing it both ways is redundant. The LongPathsEnabled setting does not perform any magic. You still have to code your app to work with long paths. With the setting enabled, you should see that you can work with long paths at a Cmd prompt without having to prefix long paths with \\?\.

The setting makes no difference to Explorer. Regardless of the setting, you can navigate long paths in Explorer and open and edit files within those paths, but you can't change the path. You will get an error message if you try to make the path longer.

Some file managers, such as Directory Opus and XYPlorer, fully support long paths, regardless of the LongPathsEnabled setting. I think they internally prefix all paths with \\?\. You may need to do something like that in your .Net app (or talk to the developer if it's not your code).