Does MAX_PATH issue still exists in Windows 10

Question

Can someone please tell us/me if the MAX_PATH issue still exists in (the technical preview of) Windows 10. And if it exists: How many characters can a path and an individual file name have?

Answer 1

The issue will be always present in Windows, to keep compatibility with old software. Use the NT-style name syntax "\\?\D:\very long path" to workaround this issue.

In Windows 10 (Version 1607 - Anniversary Update) and Windows Server 2016 you seem to have an option to ignore the MAX_PATH issue by overriding a group policy entry enable NTFS long paths under Computer Configuration -> Admin Templates -> System -> FileSystem:

The applications must have an entry longPathAware similar to DPIAware in the application manifest.

<assembly xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1" manifestVersion="1.0" xmlns:asmv3="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v3" >
  <asmv3:application>
    <asmv3:windowsSettings xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/SMI/2016/WindowsSettings">
      <longPathAware>true</longPathAware>
    </asmv3:windowsSettings>
  </asmv3:application>
</assembly>

Answer 2

Yes it does still exist. Just ran into an issue now and the usual method of mapping a network drive to it to shorten the path didn't seem to let me open the files, but it would let me rename and move them.

Answer 3

Here's some ansible code to enable long paths to avoid all that clicking in @magicandre1981 answer. This was tested on Windows Server 2016, it should work on Windows 10 too.

- name: Remove filesystem path length limitations
  win_regedit:
    path: HKLM:\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem
    name: LongPathsEnabled
    type: dword
    data: 1
    state: present