{"id":727,"date":"2016-07-02T18:49:13","date_gmt":"2016-07-02T18:49:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.foldersizes.com\/wordpress\/?p=727"},"modified":"2025-04-02T03:39:09","modified_gmt":"2025-04-02T03:39:09","slug":"find-long-paths-foldersizes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.foldersizes.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/2016\/07\/find-long-paths-foldersizes.htm","title":{"rendered":"How to Find Long Paths with FolderSizes"},"content":{"rendered":"

FolderSizes offers powerful capabilities for identifying long NTFS file system paths that might cause compatibility issues with other applications. This guide walks you through the simple process of locating files and folders with excessive path lengths.<\/p>\n

Getting Started<\/h2>\n
    \n
  1. Launch FolderSizes and click the Search<\/strong> button in the main ribbon bar to open the Search window.<\/li>\n
  2. Navigate to the Search Paths<\/strong> tab and enter the local or network locations you wish to analyze. You can add multiple paths as needed.<\/li>\n
  3. Click the Samples<\/strong> button in the Search window toolbar and select the pre-configured template called “Find Long File and Folder Paths.xml” from the list of built-in search samples.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Reviewing and Configuring Search Rules<\/h2>\n

    After loading the sample, you’ll be taken to the Search Rules<\/strong> tab where you’ll see two predefined rules\u2014one for files and one for folders. To examine or modify these rules:<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Double-click on the file rule to open the File Rule Editor.<\/li>\n
    2. Select the Name Len<\/strong> tab to view the path length criteria.<\/li>\n
    3. Verify that the rule is set to match paths with more than 255 characters.<\/li>\n
    4. Ensure the Count the full path length<\/strong> option is selected (this is crucial as it considers the entire path, not just the filename).<\/li>\n
    5. Close the File Rule Editor when you’re satisfied with the configuration.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Running the Search<\/h2>\n

      Click the Start<\/strong> button in the Search window to begin the search operation. When completed, the results will display all files and folders with paths exceeding 255 characters.<\/p>\n

      The search results provide comprehensive information about each item, including:<\/p>\n

        \n
      • Full path<\/li>\n
      • File\/folder size<\/li>\n
      • Allocated size (“size on disk”)<\/li>\n
      • Additional attributes (customizable by right-clicking the column header)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

        Why This Matters<\/h2>\n

        This functionality is particularly valuable because many applications and systems struggle to process paths beyond certain length thresholds. Identifying these long paths helps you proactively manage potential compatibility issues before they cause problems.<\/p>\n

        With FolderSizes, locating problematic long paths becomes a straightforward task that can save you significant troubleshooting time down the road.<\/p>\n\n\n

        <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        FolderSizes offers powerful capabilities for identifying long NTFS file system paths that might cause compatibility issues with other applications. This guide walks you through the simple process of locating files and folders with excessive path lengths. Getting Started Launch FolderSizes and click the Search button in the main ribbon bar to open the Search window. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5,6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.foldersizes.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/727"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.foldersizes.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.foldersizes.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.foldersizes.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.foldersizes.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=727"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.foldersizes.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/727\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":966,"href":"https:\/\/www.foldersizes.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/727\/revisions\/966"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.foldersizes.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=727"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.foldersizes.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=727"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.foldersizes.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=727"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}