Long file path issues in Windows 11 Pro with Microsoft VS Code and File Explorer

Anonymous
2022-05-04T22:27:47+00:00

I spent way too long debugging a compile error in MS VS Code (64bit version 1.66.2). It would fail with 'file not found' or 'unable to access file' errors. The workspace is located in "C:\Users\UserName\Documents\My Workspaces\firmware", with several levels of nested source folders below.

Initially, I got several linking errors due to Controlled Folder Access protection using the Ransomware protection built-in to Windows Security. I whitelisted ar.exe and as. exe, but the errors persisted. I even turned off Ransomware protection. Seeing a thread online about long file paths reminded me I hadn't enabled that on Windows 11 yet (fresh install), so I changed the following settings and rebooted the PC:
Registry: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem\LongPathsEnabled set to 1.

Group Policy: System "Configuration>Administrative Templates>System>Filesystem>Enable Win32 long paths" enabled.

About that time I noticed an issue with not being able to delete or rename files on an SMB share that were in a deep path. If I went to the other system and moved them up a few folders I was again able to rename the files.

Both of these scenarios work fine from my Windows 10 Pro PC. My Windows 11 Pro PC is a fresh install (Version 21H2 Build 22000.613).

So I believe Windows 11 isn't respecting my Long Paths settings. As a final test, I moved my VS Code Workspace folder to system drive root (C:\firmware) and it compiled without error.

I've seen other questions on here about Windows 11 path length issues that were brushed away because they were encountered using non-Microsoft 3rd Party software, but this is all built-in File Explorer and Microsoft's own VS Code product.

My question is, how do I actually allow long file paths in Windows 11 Pro?

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Files, folders, and storage

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  1. Anonymous
    2022-11-17T17:25:36+00:00

    FYI: I opened a support incident with Microsoft on this today. It will be interesting to see what they have to say about this.

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  2. Anonymous
    2022-11-16T12:16:40+00:00

    And November 2022

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  3. Anonymous
    2022-11-09T18:27:58+00:00

    Yeah, This does not work on Windows 11 or Server 2022.

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  4. Anonymous
    2022-10-15T11:09:38+00:00

    You're right. Even today (October 2022) this issue isn't fixed. I'm downgrading to Windows 10 because of this.

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  5. Anonymous
    2022-08-10T23:19:50+00:00

    Andy Milne1's right, it's a fundamental problem in Windows 11.

    I have come across this problem in a client's new Windows 11 installation. This is occuring inside a local Onedrive folder but we can get around it by creating the folder online, which then replicates successfully to the local Onedrive folder. The weird thing is that they can then use File Explorer to create files inside that folder without that error.

    This is already enabled in Registry: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem\LongPathsEnabled set to 1.

    I haven't tried the Group Policy setting yet but accourding to CyberGuyTX that doesn't work either.

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