source file names are larger than the file system supports

Many users face strange situation when they try to copy or delete something from their computer. Affected users report receiving a Source Path Too Long message indicating that “The source file names are larger than the file system supports”. This usually happens with a file (or more) which is buried in a series of subfolders that have long names. When this happens, can't move, delete or rename any of the files / folders involved.

The source file names are larger than the file system supports

One big problem with this particular error is that once it occurs, can not (apparently) do nothing else with the file / folder other than letting it take up valuable storage space.

Why the Source Path Too Long Error Occurs?

The “Source file names are larger than the file system supports” will occur because Microsoft only allows 258 characters in the subfolder of the folder path. Whenever this limit is exceeded, the whole folder path will be locked to avoid conventional manipulation.

If you are having trouble resolving the same error message, the following methods will help you solve the problem. Here is a collection of methods that other users in a similar situation have used to solve the problem.

All the methods presented below should solve the problem. Feel free to follow the one that seems most accessible to your current situation..

Method 1: delete without going through the recycle bin

Many users managed to fix the problem by skipping the recycle bin entirely when they tried to delete the file or folder showing the error “The source file names are larger than the file system supports”.

To do this, just select the file (or folder) which shows the error and press SHIFT + Delete to permanently delete the file (bypassing the Recycle Bin).

Select the desired folder and press the Shift key + Supr

Method 2: delete a tree by creating a decoy directory

There is another manual approach that many of the affected users have used to successfully delete a three folder showing the error “The source file names are larger than the file system supports”.

This approach involves creating a decoy folder located in the same directory as the folder that cannot be deleted. When temporarily moving the contents of the folder that cannot be deleted to the decoy folder, some users have managed to delete the entire directory three showing the error.

Here is a quick guide on what to do:

1. Go to the root directory of the drive that contains the tree of folders that you cannot delete. In our case, root directory is C :, since we want to delete a series of folders found in Documents. So go ahead, create a folder with a single letter name in the root directory.

   

2. Leave the single letter folder for now and navigate to the directory you want to delete. Once i get there, select all your content and press Ctrl + X to cut it. Navigate to the desired folder path and cut the content inside

3. Then, navigate and open temp folder (in our case, folder B) that you have previously created and paste the content by pressing Ctrl + V. Paste the contents of the destination directory into the temporary folder

4. Then go to the root directory, right click on the temp folder and delete it. Delete temporary folder

5. Finally, go back to the original directory and delete it. You should be able to do this without getting the error “The source file names are larger than the file system supports”.

Note: Please note that if you have multiple folding levers, you must repeat the above procedure for each one of them to be able to remove each and every one.

If this method was not effective, go to next method below.

Method 3: Using the Microsoft Robocopy.exe Tool

If you are a tech savvy and prefer technical solutions rather than a bit more tedious work, You can use a Microsoft tool that is built into the Windows Vista command prompt.

Some users have managed to solve this particular problem by creating an empty folder and then using the RoboCopy utility to copy that empty folder to the folder containing the long file names. Most of the users who tried this method reported that it worked without any problems.

This is what you have to do:

1. Create an empty folder on the same disk drive as the folder with the long file names. We call it empty.

2. Press the Windows key + R to open the Run dialog. Then type »cmd» and press Ctrl + Shift + Enter to open an elevated command prompt. When prompted UAC (User account control), click Yes when prompted. Run dialog: cmd and then press Ctrl + Shift + Enter

3. Inside the elevated command line, type the following to copy the empty folder to the desired folder, making it easy to remove the last:

    robocopy /MIR c:*empty* c:*targetedfolder* 

   Note: Note that you will have to replace the placeholders * empty * Y * destination folder * with the real names in your particular setting.

Force folder deletion with Robocopy

Method 4: using the SuperDelete command line tool

Some users affected by the bug “The source file names are larger than the file system supports” have managed to remove the pesky folders using an open source command line tool called SuperDelete.

Some users have reported that this method was ultimately successful after most of the other avenues they had previously explored proved ineffective.. Don't be scared off by the fact that this tool is a command line utility; actually, It is very easy to use.

Here is a quick guide on using SuperDelete to delete folders and files showing the error “source file names are larger than the file system supports”:

1. Visit this link (here) and download the latest version of the SuperDelete file. Download the SuperDelete executable

2. Extract the zip folder from SuperDelete and paste the SuperDelete executable somewhere convenient.

3. Press the Windows key + R to open a Run dialog. Then write “cmd” and hit Enter to open a command window. Run dialog: cmd

4. Inside the command prompt, use the CD command to navigate to the location of SuperDelete.exe. We have pasted it in the root directory of C so that the command is cd C:.

5. Then use the following command to delete the folder or file that shows you that the source file names are larger than the file system supports »error:

   SuperDelete.exe * fullPathToFileOrFolder *

   Note: Replace the placeholder * FullPathToFileorFolder * with the exact path in your particular scenario.

6. Press Y in the following message to confirm the deletion of the folder or file. Delete long path files or folders with SuperDelete

7. That's all, the folder or file is permanently deleted.

Note: You can also just try renaming internal folders and you can eliminate this particular error.