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How to Create a Symlink for Blender Scripts on Windows?

December 8, 2025 3 answers
Asked by CleverCat123
I'm transitioning from Mac to Windows, and I'm trying to set up Blender in a similar way. I usually use symlinks for my scripts and extensions folders because they take up a lot of space. I've researched how to do this on Windows, and it seems pretty similar to Mac, but I'm running into issues. When I try to create a symlink in the terminal, I get an "access denied" error for the target folder. Deleting the folder just gives me a "no folder exists" message and prevents the symlink from being created. I've verified my admin account permissions, adjusted the target folder's permissions, and even turned off read-only, but it keeps reverting back. I've checked my user permissions and ensured I'm set as admin, plus I enabled dev mode in Windows. I even attempted to grant "modify" access to the whole programs folder, but it wouldn't let me apply that either. Is there something I'm missing or a specific setting I need to enable to create the symlink successfully? To clarify, I'm trying to link folders within the %AppData% directory for each Blender version, but I mistakenly tried to do it in the program files instead, which is what I read won't work.
Blender permissions Programming scripting symlink Windows

Answers

AdminGuru99
Make sure you're running your command line interface as an administrator. Right-click on Command Prompt or PowerShell and select 'Run as administrator' to give it the proper permissions.
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BlenderNinja77
I’m using command prompt as admin with: `mklink /H "C:program files...scripts" "C:program files...4.5scripts"` to create a hard link. I thought it would link 5.0's scripts to 4.5's. Your command looks like it's close, but just to clarify, is everything before your 'C:' part needed? I tested my command, and it created a symlink in my user folder but when I tried to replace the scripts folder with it, Blender wouldn’t start. It worked fine on Mac, so maybe the approach for Windows is different.
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TechieTribe84
What's the command you're using? Also, is the folder you're linking to remote? Here’s a command that works for me: `New-Item -ItemType SymbolicLink -Path 'your-symlink-path' -Target 'C:PathToSource'`. Just remember, you need admin access in PowerShell to create a symlink.
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