Long path file successfully copied but cannot open in Windows 10

I wanted to copy files from a Windows 7 Machine to a Windows 10 Machine and used Network transfer via LAN, however, I wasn't able to copy all the data because I received an error at the end:

Destination Path Too Long
--- The file name(s) would be too long for the destination folder...

I researched and found this site, and after doing the workaround on that site, I was able to copy all the remaining data, however, when I tried to open these files from the Windows 10 Machine another error appeared, with the file location becoming:
\\\?D:\Users\Username\Desktop\Super\Long\Path\Filename...

• The file location is not complete.
• The files are not corrupted and can still be opened if I try to shorten the path.

Question: Is there a way to open a file with long path in Windows 10 without shortening the path?

Solution 1:

The syntax your are seeing is the UNC naming convention used in Windows to specify long names.

The syntax to use is : \\?\D:\very long path.

If this information is not enough, please specify what utility you are using for doing the copy, as not all utilities may accept long path names.

To my great surprise I find that Windows is not ready for such long path names, in spite of what the documentation says.

I tried to duplicate the path used by the poster:

\?\D:\Users\akash\Desktop\PS-19001F SDU Foundation suction piles, UTA suction piles and Mudmat\0. Before Award\KOM DOCUMENTS SOW Emails Etc\on 12 03 2019 email dates from tfmc for tendering\078072c003-ptti-eni-merakes epci-2\Exhibit B\Appendix B.1.2-Breakdown for Structural Material

Here is what happened:

• I found that Windows Explorer refused to create this path, and the failure happened on the last sub-folder.
• I did manage to create the last sub-folder from PowerShell using mkdir
• Explorer agreed to display the folder, but refused to copy any file into it
• Again I used the PowerShell Copy-Item command for that
• Explorer only displayed the file after I pressed F5, but then refused a double-click with the message "The directory name is invalid".
• I tried to open files in the last sub-folder using Foxit Reader, Adobe Acrobat and Microsoft Office. In all of them the syntax of \\?\D:\ was refused, so I had to build up to it sub-folder after sub-folder using the `D:\" syntax, to find out finally that the document couldn't be opened.
• For clincher, when I deleted in Explorer the folder of D:\Users, I got the message that the path-name was too long for the Recycle Bin.

The only solution that worked was to shorten the path by using in the Command Prompt (cmd) the subst command like this:

subst Z: "D:\Users\akash\Desktop\PS-19001F SDU Foundation suction piles, UTA suction piles and Mudmat"

I could now refer to files inside the virtual Z: drive without any problem.

Conclusion: Windows and its applications are not really ready for using long path names. The path-name must be shortened to really be usable.