Symlinks in Linux: How to Create and Use Them

A symlink lets one file live at two paths: the real one, and a lightweight pointer that forwards to it. It's one of those Linux features you can ignore for years, then suddenly use every day once you've seen what it's for (dotfiles, versioned tool installs, and log directories, to name a few). Here's what symlinks are, how to create them with ln -s, and how they differ from copies.

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What Is a Symlink?

A symbolic link, usually called a symlink for short, is a special kind of file that points to another file or directory.

It's a lot like a shortcut in a GUI. The symlink has its own path, but when you use it, the operating system follows the link to the target.

How to Create a Symlink with ln -s

The ln command creates links. To create a symbolic link, use the -s flag:

ln -s target_path link_path

Note, the path to the target comes first, then the path where the symlink will be created. For example:

ln -s documents/important.txt important.txt

That creates a symlink in the current directory named important.txt, which points to documents/important.txt.

Directories work exactly the same way. For example, you can keep a stable path that always points at the latest version of something:

ln -s releases/v2 current

Now cd current drops you into releases/v2, and when v3 ships you just update the link instead of every script that references it.

You can use ls -l to see where a symlink points:

important.txt -> documents/important.txt

Relative vs Absolute Symlink Targets

A relative target is resolved from the symlink's location, not from wherever you run ln. You can use either a relative or an absolute path for the target, and both options have tradeoffs. If you use an absolute path, you can usually move the symlink without a problem, but moving the target will break the symlink. If you use a relative path, the symlink will continue to work as long as its position relative to the target stays the same. For example, you could move a parent directory containing both the symlink and the target.

Symlink vs Copy: What's the Difference?

A symlink is not the same as a copy: it doesn't duplicate the file's contents. It just creates another path that points to the original. That means:

• If the target file changes, the symlink shows the new contents.
• If you delete the symlink, the target file still exists.
• If you delete the target file, the symlink breaks.

That last one is worth remembering: a symlink whose target is gone is called a dangling (or broken) symlink. It still exists as a file, but following it leads nowhere.

To remove a symlink, just rm the link itself — the target is untouched:

rm important.txt

Symlinks show up everywhere once you know to look: your shell configuration dotfiles are commonly symlinked from a Git repo, and package managers use symlinks to wire up installed tools. If you want to practice creating (and breaking, and fixing) them yourself, the Learn Linux course has a whole section on it.