max length filename

[John A Grandy]

I understand the maximum length for a filename in Windows is 256 ... true ?

Is there any way around this ? Certainly people have need for apps that
use longer filenames, no ?

Any shells for Windows that somehow get around this problem ?

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

"John A Grandy" <johnagrandy-at-gmail-dot-com> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>I understand the maximum length for a filename in Windows is 256 ... true ?
>
> Is there any way around this ? Certainly people have need for apps that
> use longer filenames, no ?
>
> Any shells for Windows that somehow get around this problem ?
>

AFAIR, the limit is 260 characters. Some utilities (e.g. robocopy) are not
subject to it. I'm not aware of any shells that get around it.

[Bill Grant]

"Pegasus (MVP)" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> "John A Grandy" <johnagrandy-at-gmail-dot-com> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>>I understand the maximum length for a filename in Windows is 256 ... true
>>?
>>
>> Is there any way around this ? Certainly people have need for apps that
>> use longer filenames, no ?
>>
>> Any shells for Windows that somehow get around this problem ?
>>
>
> AFAIR, the limit is 260 characters. Some utilities (e.g. robocopy) are not
> subject to it. I'm not aware of any shells that get around it.
>
I thought it was 255 characters.

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

"Bill Grant" <not.available@online> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> I thought it was 255 characters.

You made me curious, so I ran a quick test. Here is the longest folder+file
name I managed to create:
D:\aaaaaaaaaabbbbbbbbbbcccc0\aaaaaaaaaabbbbbbbbbbcccc1\aaaaaaaaaabbbbbbbbbbcccc2\aaaaaaaaaabbbbbbbbb bcccc3\aaaaaaaaaabbbbbbbbbbcccc4\aaaaaaaaaabbbbbbbbbbcccc5\aaaaaaaaaabbbbbbbbbbcccc6\aaaaaaaaaabbbbb bbbbbcccc7\aaaaaaaaaabbbbbbbbbbcccc8\123456789012345678.txt
It's 259 characters long.

[John A Grandy]

So , like I said , the max length for a filename alone is 256 ...


"Pegasus (MVP)" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> "Bill Grant" <not.available@online> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>>
>> I thought it was 255 characters.
>
> You made me curious, so I ran a quick test. Here is the longest
> folder+file name I managed to create:
> D:\aaaaaaaaaabbbbbbbbbbcccc0\aaaaaaaaaabbbbbbbbbbcccc1\aaaaaaaaaabbbbbbbbbbcccc2\aaaaaaaaaabbbbbbbbb bcccc3\aaaaaaaaaabbbbbbbbbbcccc4\aaaaaaaaaabbbbbbbbbbcccc5\aaaaaaaaaabbbbbbbbbbcccc6\aaaaaaaaaabbbbb bbbbbcccc7\aaaaaaaaaabbbbbbbbbbcccc8\123456789012345678.txt
> It's 259 characters long.
>

[Bill Grant]

Well no, it's 255. .txt is four characters.

"John A Grandy" <johnagrandy-at-gmail-dot-com> wrote in message
news:#[email protected]...
> So , like I said , the max length for a filename alone is 256 ...
>
>
> "Pegasus (MVP)" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>>
>> "Bill Grant" <not.available@online> wrote in message
>> news:[email protected]...
>>>
>>> I thought it was 255 characters.
>>
>> You made me curious, so I ran a quick test. Here is the longest
>> folder+file name I managed to create:
>> D:\aaaaaaaaaabbbbbbbbbbcccc0\aaaaaaaaaabbbbbbbbbbcccc1\aaaaaaaaaabbbbbbbbbbcccc2\aaaaaaaaaabbbbbbbbb bcccc3\aaaaaaaaaabbbbbbbbbbcccc4\aaaaaaaaaabbbbbbbbbbcccc5\aaaaaaaaaabbbbbbbbbbcccc6\aaaaaaaaaabbbbb bbbbbcccc7\aaaaaaaaaabbbbbbbbbbcccc8\123456789012345678.txt
>> It's 259 characters long.
>>
>
>

[John A Grandy]

Heh ...

I am interested in the max filename length including any suffix.

I don't think it's reasonable to not include the suffix in the length --
there is no requirement that a filename include a suffix.

My tests show that :

filename max length = 256

filepath max length = 259




"Bill Grant" <not.available@online> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Well no, it's 255. .txt is four characters.
>
> "John A Grandy" <johnagrandy-at-gmail-dot-com> wrote in message
> news:#[email protected]...
>> So , like I said , the max length for a filename alone is 256 ...
>>
>>
>> "Pegasus (MVP)" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>> news:[email protected]...
>>>
>>> "Bill Grant" <not.available@online> wrote in message
>>> news:[email protected]...
>>>>
>>>> I thought it was 255 characters.
>>>
>>> You made me curious, so I ran a quick test. Here is the longest
>>> folder+file name I managed to create:
>>> D:\aaaaaaaaaabbbbbbbbbbcccc0\aaaaaaaaaabbbbbbbbbbcccc1\aaaaaaaaaabbbbbbbbbbcccc2\aaaaaaaaaabbbbbbbbb bcccc3\aaaaaaaaaabbbbbbbbbbcccc4\aaaaaaaaaabbbbbbbbbbcccc5\aaaaaaaaaabbbbbbbbbbcccc6\aaaaaaaaaabbbbb bbbbbcccc7\aaaaaaaaaabbbbbbbbbbcccc8\123456789012345678.txt
>>> It's 259 characters long.
>>>
>>
>>