Can't Delete Folder, "Destination Path Too Long" Error

[ChristopherPoe]

I've seen other similar posts, but none of them provides an actual solution that has worked for this ridiculous problem I'm having. I'm simply trying to delete a folder from my backup drive in Windows 7, but Windows shows the error, "Destination Path Too Long: The file name(s) would be too long for the destination folder. You can shorten the file name and try again, or try a location that has a shorter path. "

Then, after I "Skip" this item, I get another similar error, but this time it says, "Source Path Too Long: The source file name(s) are larger than is supported by the file system. Try moving to a location which has a shorter path name, or try renaming to shorter name(s) before attempting this operation. "

So, I deleted all sub folders and files in an attempt to work around this problem. There is one folder, that is actually completely empty, that refuses to be deleted. I moved this folder to the root of my drive, I even tried renaming it, but it never gets deleted.

Seriously, I just want to delete this folder. I've tried third-party utilities, checked the disk for errors, tried deleting the folder from the command line, and nothing has been able to delete this folder. It seems like a cutting-edge operating system should be able to handle a simple delete operation without so much trouble.

 

[Clayton2017]

Could be that the robocopy script causes the recursion in the target directory tree because of junction points in the source. I'm pretty sure the windows \User directory tree has junctions that could create this situation. You may wish to try adding the "/XJ" option to the robocopy command so that it doesn't follow junctions.

 

[deslea]

I have had several variations on this situation (not exactly the same set of circumstances). What worked for the most recalcitrant one was:

1. At the command line (elevated), use dir /x to display the folder's short name.
2. Delete from the command line using rd SHORTNAME

I don't know why that worked when everything else didn't, and so I don't know if it will apply to your situation. But it's worth a shot.

 

[tgp]

Did anyone mention longpathtool yet? :wink: Another option, but much more complicated, is to use an adapter to hook the drive up to a Linux machine, and manually edit the path name, or delete the file.

 

[Scienceguy Labs]

I've run into this issue before as well.
Can anyone explain how this happens?