How to enable NTFS long paths in Windows - Backupery (2024)

Table of Contents

Windows Home Users: Windows Pro and Enterprise(Windows Server 2016 or above) Users:

By default, the maximum path length limit in Windows is 260 characters. However, if the application is properly manifested, it is possible to remove the limitation on Windows 10 (v. 1607 or later) so the application will support the paths that are longer than 260 characters. There are alternative ways to allow the application to access paths beyond the 260 characters limit:

Windows Home Users:

Filesystem Registry entry

1. PressWin+Rkeys on your keyboard and type regeditthen press Enter. Registry Editor will be opened.
2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem.
3. Create a new 32-bit DWORD value namedLongPathsEnabled and set it to 1.
4. Restart your Windows.

Alternatively, you can download, unzip, and double-click the following REG file, it will make the registry changes automatically. Do not forget to restart your computer after applying the file.

Windows Pro and Enterprise(Windows Server 2016 or above) Users:

There are three alternative ways to enable long paths:

Using Group Policy

1. PressWin+Rkeys on your keyboard and type gpedit.mscthen press Enter. Group Policy Editor will be opened.
2. Go to Local Computer Policy -> Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> System -> Filesystem, then enable the Enable Win32 long paths option.
3. Restart your Windows.

Group Policy Registry entry

1. PressWin+Rkeys on your keyboard and type regeditthen press Enter. Registry Editor will be opened.
2. Go toHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Policies.
3. Create a new 32-bit DWORD value namedLongPathsEnabled and set it to 1.
4. Restart your Windows.

Filesystem Registry entry

1. PressWin+Rkeys on your keyboard and type regeditthen press Enter. Registry Editor will be opened.
2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem.
3. Create a new 32-bit DWORD value namedLongPathsEnabled and set it to 1.
4. Restart your Windows.

Alternatively, you can download, unzip, and double-click the following REG file, it will make the registry changes automatically. Do not forget to restart your computer after applying the file.