| Official Name (Windows) |
Symbolic Link (for files) |
Symbolic Link (for directories) |
Junction Point (Directory Junction) |
(No official Windows name) |
Hard Link |
Shortcut (.LNK File) |
| Name/Context in Cygwin |
Native Symbolic Link |
Native Symbolic Link |
Junction Point / (Sometimes as Symlink) |
Cygwin Symlink (default) |
Hard Link |
Regular File (.lnk) |
| Link Type |
File |
Directory |
Directory |
File or Directory |
File |
File |
| What it can point to (Target) |
File |
Directory |
Directory |
File or Directory |
Same file data (not path) |
File, Directory, URL, Program, etc. |
| Where the target can be located |
Same volume, another local volume, network (SMB) |
Same volume, another local volume, network (SMB) |
Local volumes only (not network) |
Any path resolvable by Cygwin |
Same volume only |
Anywhere |
| Creation (Standard tools) |
mklink <link> <target> |
mklink /D <link> <target> |
mklink /J <link> <target> |
ln -s (in Cygwin without winsymlinks:*) |
mklink /H ..., fsutil ..., ln ... |
Right-click -> Create shortcut |
| Required permissions (default) |
Administrator / Developer Mode |
Administrator / Developer Mode |
Usually none |
Standard file creation permissions |
Standard file creation permissions |
Standard file creation permissions |
Recognition in Windows (Explorer, dir) |
Yes, <SYMLINK> |
Yes, <SYMLINKD> |
Yes, <JUNCTION> |
No. As a file with SYSTEM attribute |
No. As a regular file |
Yes, as a shortcut (special icon) |
| Handling in Cygwin (default) |
May see as 0-byte/special file |
May see as directory |
Usually transparent as directory¹ |
Recognized as symlink. |
Recognized as hard link (ls -i) |
Seen as a regular binary file |
Handling in Cygwin (winsymlinks:native) |
Recognized as symlink. |
Recognized as symlink. |
Recognized as Junction/special directory |
Ignored/seen as a regular file |
Recognized as hard link |
Seen as a regular binary file |
| Key features and limitations |
NTFS (Vista+). Relative/absolute paths. Permissions. |
NTFS (Vista+). Relative/absolute paths. Permissions. |
Win2000+. Directories. Absolute paths. Local. |
Cygwin emulation. Not visible outside Cygwin. |
Not a path link. Additional name for data. |
Explorer shell file. Not an FS link. |