File Name and Path Length Issues

[jkt]

I have a fairly deep, 142 GB music directory on Windows. It works fine on both Windows and Linux. When I copy it to my ancient android, I have problems with File and Path Name Lengths. I used to fix files and paths by hand but the directory has grown too big for that. I recently bought a Galaxy A36 256GB. It has the Android 15 OS and that OS seems to promise File and Path Name Lengths as big as all outdoors. In any event, my problem remained and I returned the A36. I asked a question on the web and one answer informed me that it is the File System not the OS that ultimately determines the limitations on File and Path Name Lengths. Sound right? Is there anything I can do to get Windows defined directories to work on Android?

 

[Sizzers]

I have a fairly deep, 142 GB music directory on Windows. It works fine on both Windows and Linux. When I copy it to my ancient android, I have problems with File and Path Name Lengths. I used to fix files and paths by hand but the directory has grown too big for that. I recently bought a Galaxy A36 256GB. It has the Android 15 OS and that OS seems to promise File and Path Name Lengths as big as all outdoors. In any event, my problem remained and I returned the A36. I asked a question on the web and one answer informed me that it is the File System not the OS that ultimately determines the limitations on File and Path Name Lengths. Sound right? Is there anything I can do to get Windows defined directories to work on Android?

Which file manager are you using?

Although I very rarely use it except for very specific purposes try Files by Google.

 

[gopalko3]

I did this by using seven zip to zip up all the files, and then unzipped them after transferring the zip file on the new server. For reasons deep inside Microsoft’s rotten heart, programmatically you can have longer file path names than you can through the OS itself. Ain’t that something messed up

 

[herryporter]

This issue usually happens when the total path length (including folders, subfolders, and file name) exceeds the character limit set by the operating system.


On Windows, for example, the default limit is 260 characters, which includes the drive letter, colon, backslashes, and file name. If you’re running into this, try shortening folder names or moving the file closer to the root directory (like C:\Files instead of C:\Users\Documents\Projects\...).


You can also enable long path support in the Windows registry or Group Policy settings if you’re on Windows 10 or 11. After enabling it, restart your system, and the issue should go away.