HardLink ShellExtension is an application that facilitates the creation of hard links and symbolic links directly through the right-click context menu in Windows Explorer. It includes many features useful for everyday life. The software features a clean interface, yet offers powerful functionality. Whether in daily life or during office work, you can use this software as a helpful tool.
Software Introduction
The Chinese version of HardLink ShellExtension is an application that enables the creation of hard links and symbolic links via the right-click context menu in Windows Explorer. With this utility, you can view a single file in multiple folders while only one copy exists on the entire system. "Hard links" allow a file to appear in multiple directories while occupying the space of just one file.
Software Features
1. Create hard links via the right-click menu
Installation is very simple, as the installer only includes familiar options. To create a new hard link, simply right-click the file or folder while navigating the disk directory and selecting the link source.
In the next step, navigate to the location where you want to place the link, then open the context menu again to place it there.
2. Set junctions and other folder types
While files can be added as hard links or symbolic links, folders can be removed as junctions (soft links), smart copies, smart mirrors, DeLorean copies, hard link clones, or symbolic link clones. Selections can be made for individual files or multiple items (batch).
3. Easily distinguish items
Drag-and-drop functionality is supported, allowing you to quickly move and seamlessly create links. By eliminating the need to enter commands in the command prompt, HardLink ShellExtension proves to be a valuable asset for generating these links. Furthermore, hard-linked files and folders can be easily distinguished by a red icon (which can be replaced with a custom icon)—this also applies to junctions and symbolic links.
To cancel the creation of a new hard link, simply reopen the Windows context menu and cancel the linking process.
4. The NTFS file system supports a feature called hard links (referred to here as hard links). Hard links allow a single copy of a file to appear in multiple folders (directories). They can be created using the POSIX ln.exe utility from the Windows Resource Kit, the fsutil command-line utility included with Windows, or my command-line ln.exe utility. Therefore, using standard Windows tools, hard links can only be created via the command prompt—a process that is cumbersome, especially when creating links for multiple files or when hard links are only occasionally used. In comparison, native support for junctions in standard Microsoft software is even more limited.
5. The Link Shell Extension (LSE) is used to create hard links, junctions, volume mount points, and symbolic links (collectively referred to as links). The folder cloning process leverages hard links or symbolic links, while the copy process handles junctions, symbolic links, and hard links. As the name suggests, LSE is implemented as a shell extension accessible from Windows Explorer or similar file/folder managers.
6. The extension allows users to select one or more files or folders and then use the mouse to complete the creation of the desired link—hard link, junction, or symbolic link—or, in the case of folders, create a clone composed of hard links or symbolic links. LSE is supported on all Windows versions that support NTFS 5.0 or later, including Windows 7/8/10. Hard links, junctions, and symbolic links are not supported on the FAT file system, nor are the clone and smart copy processes.
7. In this document, the terms "action button" and "action (pop-up) menu" refer to what is commonly known as the right mouse button and the pop-up menu displayed when pressing that button (commonly called the context menu). Microsoft acknowledges that users may swap mouse button functions, hence their reference to primary and secondary mouse buttons. We prefer to call the mouse buttons the "select" button and the "action" button. Instead of terms like context menu, shell menu, or right-click menu, we use the term "action" menu.
Usage Instructions
1. In Windows Explorer, locate the file for which you want to create a hard link, for example:
"E:\a.doc";
2. Right-click the file and select "Pick Link Source".
3. Navigate to the location where you want to create the link, for example, "E:\Shared Folder".
4. Right-click on a blank area in the file list pane of Explorer, then select "Create Hardlink" (for a directory, select "Create Junction → Directory Junction [or other options]"). Instructions for the operation will be shown in Explorer's status bar.