Windows – make windows treat Shortcuts to Folders the same it would a Folder

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I'm moving some folders to an external storage drive and replacing them with a Shortcut, however the shortcut is listed in with the Files, not the Folders. It also doesn't show up in the folder Tree View that's on the left side of Windows Explorer.

Is there a way to make Windows Explorer treat a Shortcut Folder the same way it would a regular Folder?

Best Answer

In Windows Vista and 7 you can use NTFS symbolic link. Wikipedia states that "the NTFS symbolic link implementation provides full support for cross-filesystem links."

If you're not comfortable using the command line program mklink, you can use Link Shell Extension. After downloading and installing the software, follow the step-by-step guide in "Using Link Shell Extension". Basically you select the folder on the external/remote drive, click "pick link source", go back to the original drive and choose "drop as Symbolic Link".

I have not personally tested this method. Please let me know if my instructions don't work.

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