Source Path Too Long while deleting files issue Fix

Are you facing difficulty removing some files as the computer is continuously showing the “Source file name(s) are larger than is supported by the system.“? Windows supports the file name only up to 255 characters for the Long File Names (LFN). If the file name has more characters than the specified, you can’t just delete the file usually as you do in the File Explorer. There are two distinct ways that you can use to remove the file from your system.

 

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Way 1 – Delete it from terminal

You have to use the Command Prompt terminal to remove this file.

Know the address of the file you are trying to remove.

1. Open the File Explorer and simply navigate to the directory of the file.

2. Once you are there, click on the address and copy it.

 

Set The Address



 

3. Just press the Win key and start to write “cmd“.

4. Once you see the”Command Prompt” has appeared in the search results just right-tap that and click “Run as administrator“.

 

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5. Later, just type this code and paste the location of your file, and hit Enter to visit the location.

cd path of the file

 

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Example – As the path of the file in our case –

C:\Users\Sambit\Music\New folder\New folder

Then, the code will be –

cd C:\Users\Sambit\Music\New folder\New folder

]

 

Cd Path

 

This will show the list of files and folders at that address. The file you want to remove will be shortened down to one word. Now, just note down the name of the file.

6. Now finally, write this line and use the shortened name of the file to delete it from your system.

DEL shortened name of the file

 

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Example – In our case, the name of the file is “WHYTHI~1.TXT“. So, the command is –

DEL WHYTHI~1.TXT

]

 

Delete The File

 

That’s it! This is the easiest way you can remove the file from your system.

 

Way 2 – Use subst command

There is another way you can delete the file.

1. Open the File Explorer and navigate to the file location.

2. Once you are there, click on the address and copy it.

 

Set The Address

 

Now, close the File Explorer.

3. Now, once you have got the file location, press the Win key and type “command“.

4. After that, right-tap the “Command Prompt” and click “Run as administrator“.

 

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5. When the terminal appears, type this code and paste the location that you have copied.

subst z: copied path 

 

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There shouldn’t be any spaces in the path

Example – Paste the copied path in the command. In our case, the command will be –

subst z:  C:\Users\Sambit\Music\Newfolder\Newfolder

 

]

 

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This will map the folder to a new drive noted as “z:“.

6. Open the File Explorer and you will notice there is a new drive called “Z:” drive.

7. Just select it and tap the Delete key from your keyboard to remove it from your system.

 

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Now, if you want to remove the drive from your File Explorer, just execute this code –

subst z: /d

 

Subst Z D Remove

 

This will remove the drive from the File Explorer.

 

Way 3 – Use the 7zip installer

You can download and use the 7zip to remove the folder.

1. Go to the 7zip installer on your browser and tap “Download“.

 

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2. After that, double-tap the downloaded installer file.

 



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3. Now, just click “Install” to install the package on your system.

 

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Close the installer.

4. Now, search “7zip” from the Windows search box.

5. Click on the “7zip File Manager“.

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You can also open this way –

Windows Start Menu > All apps > 7zip > 7zip File Manager
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6. When the file manager opens up, navigate to the location of the file you want to remove.

7. Then, select the file and press the Shift+Delete keys together to remove the file.

 

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This will make sure that the removed file doesn’t go to the Recycle Bin and gets permanently deleted.