What command is used to create a symbolic link/soft link?
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7 Answers
┌── ln(1) link, ln -- make links
│ ┌── Create a symbolic link.
│ │ ┌── the optional path to the intended symlink
│ │ │ if omitted, symlink is in . named as destination
│ │ │ can use . or ~ or other relative paths
│ │ ┌─────┴────────┐
ln -s /path/to/original /path/to/symlink
└───────┬───────┘
└── the path to the original file/folder
can use . or ~ or other relative paths
$ echo content > original
$ ln -s original symlink
$ ls -la original symlink
-rw-r--r-- 1 grgarside staff 8 28 Jan 18:44 original
lrwxr-xr-x 1 grgarside staff 8 28 Jan 18:44 symlink -> original
$ cat symlink
content
For more information about ln(1) see the man page.
The path to the symlink is optional; if omitted, ln defaults to making a link with the same name as the destination, in the current directory:
$ cd ~/Documents
$ ln -s ../Pictures
$ ls -l Pictures
lrwxr-xr-x 1 user staff 11 Feb 1 17:05 Pictures -> ../Pictures
To create a symlink to replace a system directory (e.g. if you want to have /Users pointing to another disk drive), you need to disable System Integrity Protection. You can re-enable it after the symlink is set up.
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1You don't need to disable SIP to symlink SIP-protected folders/files, e.g.
ln -s /Users /Users/myuser/all-usersworks perfectly. You only need to disable SIP if you want to create the symlink in a SIP-protected folder (as you would if you wanted to create any other directory entry there).– nohillside ♦Mar 13, 2016 at 22:51 -
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6Fun fact: original doesn't need to actually exist. The command
ln -s "This directory is no longer in use" READMEwould be perfectly legitimate, and then anybody executingls -lwould see the message. May 11, 2016 at 14:33 -
1For future reference: You don't need to move /Users on macOS to save space. You can change users' home directory paths individually in the System Preferences under Users & Groups by right-clicking the user list entries.– Peter W.May 12, 2017 at 22:09
The command is called ln. If used with the option -s it will create a symbolic link in the current directory:
ln -s /any/file/on/the/disk linked-file
answered Dec 31, 2013 at 17:54
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3Does the linked-file have to exist first? I get a file not found error on the target. Oct 26, 2016 at 14:26
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3The file not (you get an error message if it does), but all directories in any path. If you are stuck, feel free to ask a new question using the Ask Question button at the top right. Include a link to this question to provide context.– nohillside ♦Oct 26, 2016 at 17:06
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1Symbolic link should not exist before you run this command. But a valid path is required as far as I know. If the output file's folder not exists before you run this command, you will get
No such file or directoryerror as well. Dec 19, 2017 at 11:23
I know this question is explicitly asking about the Terminal, but if you're in GUI Land and don't want to enter Terminal Land, you can use SymbolicLinker. This puts a "Make Symbolic Link" option in your Services menu in Finder.
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3I'd love to know why this was downvoted so I can make higher-quality answers from now on :)– Ky.Apr 27, 2016 at 22:43
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13probably because the question was "How can I create a symbolic link in Terminal?" But I am not downvoting you :)– vedranoApr 29, 2016 at 14:55
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1@EdwardFalk I think in El Capitan, you can hold
Command+Optionwhile dragging a file... will update the answer later– Ky.Nov 9, 2016 at 14:27 -
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2@BenLeggerio, The difference is explained here: apple.stackexchange.com/questions/2991/…– MiBFeb 25, 2017 at 3:25
It's just ln -s <source> <destination>.
ln -s /some/dir/ ~/Desktop/dir
You can also create a symlink for directory using the same command
ln -s "$(pwd)" ~/Desktop/dir
To create symlink to current directory you are in.
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@mylogon i just realised that
.doesnt work on macOS. didnt try on linux yet. using./resulted in thisfoo -> ./foowhich points to itself.– GeraldJul 12, 2018 at 6:10 -
As a heads up to anyone, you must use full path names. This wasn't immediately clear to me, as I felt I could symlink relative paths in a folder that I was running the command inside. I could be wrong (I'm a macOS novice).
For example, if I try to symlink my Pictures folder inside of my Downloads folder, while cd'd in my user home directory, this will not work:
Users\stevebauman >_ ln -s Pictures Downloads
Instead, you must use:
Users\stevebauman >_ ln -s /Users/stevebauman/Pictures /Users/stevebauman/Downloads
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1Not exactly - the link has to be expanded from where it is so ln -s ../Pictures Pictures works. The link works as if you cd to where you store the link– mmmmmmFeb 1, 2021 at 12:14
Unless the source path is relative to your destination, use an absolute path to your source path, and put it in single quotes
$ ln -s '/any file/could have (special chars)/or spaces/test' '/some/other place/file'
You can always figure out the current full unescaped path to something by going to that folder in the terminal, then typing
$ pwd
