Symbolic links (of symlinks for short) are object that contains references to other files or folders directory in the form of absolute or relative paths and that affect pathname resolution. For example, if a symlink C:\ProgramData\Documents points to D:\Recovered Files\Root\Users\Public\Documents , entering it will result in entering D:\Recovered Files\Root\Users\Public\Documents .

Symbolic Links dialog box

Symbolic links display settings
Don't show symbolic links by default (Technician version)	If this option is selected, R‑Studio hides all symbolic links by default. Only real objects will be visible. You may make them visible by clearing the Hide symbolic links option on the Mask dialog box.
Show folder symbolic links as links to their targets, without target content (Technician version)	Only links to their target will be shown in the right pane (Contents). They target content can be reached by clicking those links.
Symbolic links recovery options
For all options:	When both the symbolic link and its target are selected for recovery, both the symbolic link and its target will be recoveredl. When only the target is selected fore recovery, only the target will be recovered.
Link conversion (Default)
Only a symbolic link is selected for recovery:	The selected symbolic link will be recovered as its target.
If both a symbolic link and its target are selected for recovery:	If both a symbolic link and its target are selected for recovery, both the target and its symbolic link will be recovered. The file path in that symbolic link will be converted from absolute to relative. Example: If the object C:\ProgramData\Documents is a symbolic link to C:\Users\Public\Documents , it will be converted to a symbolic link to ..\Users\Public\Documents . Therefore, the symbolic link will point to its object regardless of the place to which the object has been recovered.
Recovery as it is (Technician version)
Only a symbolic link is selected for recovery:	The symbolic link will be recovered as a symbolic link which may contain a path to a nonexistent object.
If both the symbolic link and its target are selected for recovery, the absolute link will remain as the original absolute symbolic link.	If both the symbolic link and its target are selected for recovery, the file path in that symbolic link will remain unchanged. Example: The place to store recovered data: D:\Recovered Files . The object to recover: C:\Users\Public\Documents The symbolic link: C:\ProgramData\Documents After recovery: The recovered object: D:\Recovered Files\Root\Users\Public\Documents The recovered symbolic link: D:\Recovered Files\Root\ProgramData\Documents pointing to C:\Users\Public\Documents . Therefore, if someone tries to enter to the symbolic link, the system will open the object C:\Users\Public\Documents , rather than recovered D:\Recovered Files\Root\Users\Public\Documents . Usually a recovered target has a new path, therefore its recovered absolute links will point to a wrong place, or to a non-existent object.

The Data Recovery Topics topic explains processing of symbolic links recovery in more detail.

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Symbolic Link Processing

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