Symoblic link to NAS folder removal

Question

Symoblic link to NAS folder removal

Sum C 20

Hi there,

I've read that symbolic link using mklink /J and /d have different results, while del /j links only the link is deleted but if I del /d link the file inside the destination is also removed.

I have previous experience that if I remove the symbolic link made using /j command in files explorer , select on the link folder icon and press delete, it only deletes the link but not the folder in destination (what I wanted).

Now my question is since making a symbolic link onto a mapped NAS drive (Z:) only the /d option works, if I went to the file explorer, select the icon and press del key, would it remove the files in the NAS also? As I sometimes wanted to switch the symbolic link destination I wonder if just heading to the file explorer folder and press del would be a faster option to delete the link only but preserve the file.

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Answer 1

Carl-L 21,480 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Hello Sum C,

Welcome to Microsoft Q&A forum.

Regarding your questions, the answer is no. Deleting a symbolic link from File explorer will delete only the link and not the folder on NAS. However, if you open it first and then remove the content inside it, the NAS folder will be affected.

In this case, since you say you periodically change the destination, the safest way is to use this command "rmdir C:\MyLink", this removes only the link and make sure that it never touches the NAS folder.

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Sum C 20 Reputation points

2026-08-26T07:12:52.9266667+00:00

Thanks Carl, that's what I wanted to do, just select the symbolic link created with mklink /d function to delete it without deleting the content inside the folder, if I open it first and press delete I will accept it's stupidity in effect.

the periodically thing actually is due to apple devices app limitation, I found out that mklink to NAS trying to backup a 512GB iphone will result in error message saying the folder don't have enough space despite the NAS still have 30TB space available... now I have to back it up to a local SSD first, then manually copy it to the NAS.

Since I wanted to try remake the link to the NAS to see if itunes and apple devices now able to see and backup the phone directly to NAS I would like to temporary delete the existing link and remake one to the NAS, if it works I can free up the 512GB real estate from my fastest NVMe SSD for some other usage
Carl-L 21,480 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-08-27T10:00:47.9266667+00:00

Hello Sum C,

Thanks for replying.

If you have any other questions, feel free to ask.