Destination Path Too Long Fix (when Moving/Copying a File)?

Hey,
If you are facing the error Destination Path Too Long when trying to copy or move a file to a folder, try the quick trick below. The reason you receive the error is that File Explorer failed to copy/delete/rename any path-name longer than 256 characters. The instructions below apply to Windows XP, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, and Windows Server 2012R2/2016/2019.

This is not the limitation of the NTFS file system, but the Win32 API library. In Win32 API the MAX_PATH value is 260. Most standard applications, including Windows Explorer (File Explorer), do not work correctly with long path files exceeding 256 characters. Under the file name, Windows understands the entire path, starting with the root of the drive, ending with the last subfolder, and the file name itself.

When using Unicode API functions, it’s possible to use a path of up to 32767 characters. Thanks to this, many third-party programs (the popular file managers, for example FAR and Total Commander) process files/folders which path length exceeds 256 characters without any problems.
Thanks!

3 Likes

Hi @Jhonpeterson,

Thanks for this Information to forum.

Thanks

Thanks for the helpful info , that would shorten the way too much and I would add , you can also shorten the path name or use tools like Long Path Tool or Gs Richcopy 360 , this should solve the issue

I used to have similar problems too, but after using “long path tool” everything was solved. Try this software and you would be glad you did.

The LongPathTool utility is the perfect solution for anyone dealing with files that have excessively long path names.