Symbolic link (and junction point) support now on Insync for Windows and Linux
Most wanted captured One of the most requested features on the Insync forums is symbolic link (“symlink”) support. We are symlink users ourselves and wanted this feature so we added it.
What are symbolic links (and junction points) and why does it make sense to have them? Symbolic link is a special type of file that contains a reference to another file (or directory) only instead of containing actual data it’s a reference to a file.Junction point (“junction”), on the other hand, is an NTFS-only specific term. Junctions are popular among Windows users as the “actual” symlinks arrived pretty late on Windows (Vista onwards). For an end user, the differences between junctions and symlinks on Windows are minute; but the most noticeable among them is the fact that junctions cannot point to a file or to a network folder while symlinks can.The most common use for symlinks is for creating multiple links for important files or folders without having to create duplicate copies. In other words, if you want easy access to some files or folders but do not want to move them from their current location, then symlinks are for you. With Insync symlink support, you can effectively “sync any folder” (or file) to Google Drive. It’s not a feature for everybody but for power users, it keeps current folder hierarchy preserved and that’s a big problem solved.How do I use symlinks in Insync?
Windows 8, 7 and Vista 1. Be sure to have Insync for Windows version 0.9.19.17363 (or higher) installed on your machine. 2. Open the Command Prompt and right click on it. 3. Click Run as Administrator (type in the password if prompted) and then use the following:
MKLINK /D Link Target ("/D" is for directory Symlink)
e.g. MKLINK /D "C:[email protected]" "D:Music"
This will create a symlink to your Music folder that will be synced through your Insync folder.
Windows XP 1. Be sure to have Insync for Windows version 0.9.19.17363 (or higher) installed on your machine. 2. Download Sysinternal's utility called Junction (or use any other trusted program such as linkd.exe from the windows resource tool kit) - http://download.sysinternals.com/files/Junction.zip 3. Unzip and extract junction.exe 4. Open the Command Prompt and switch to the directory where junction.exe is located and then use following:
JUNCTION Link Target
e.g. JUNCTION "C:[email protected]" "D:Music"
This will create a junction to the music folder that will be synced through your Insync folderNote: Junctions on XP (and “sometimes” on Vista, 7 and 8 too!) are tightly bound to their targets - deleting a junction the way you delete any other file or folder would delete all the content in the target too. Therefore to delete the junction locally, use the same utility with a different switch on the command line:
JUNCTION /d Link
e.g. JUNCTION /d "C:[email protected]"
When you delete a “junction” remotely on Google Drive Web, Insync will always delete the junction safely for you locally. So remote deletion is completely safe with Insync.
Linux 1. Be sure to have Insync for Linux Beta 14 (or higher) installed on your machine. 2. Go to your file manager and right-click on any file or folder that you want synced to Google Drive but don’t want to move or copy. 3. Hover over Add to Insync, then click the account where you want to sync the file or folder. This will create a symlink whose contents are synced to Google Drive.
Note: The list below shows the Linux desktops that have symlink support.
Debian-based Distros:
- Unity + Nautilus - Cinnamon + Nemo
- Xfce + Thunar
Fedora-based Distros:
- Gnome shell + Nautilus - Cinnamon + Nautilus
Mac OS X Symlinks (and aliases) currently aren’t 100% supported on Mac OS X. It only syncs upon Insync startup -- it doesn’t keep watching the folder (or file). Full support is coming in 1.x.