How do I open a folder link in powershell/windows terminal? - powershell

Question

When I type the obvious thing
PS > cd folderName.lnk
or
PS > cd folderName.lnk
in both cases it claims that the file doesn't exist, even though 'ls' shows that it does. Any suggestions? Thank you

Answer 1

try this:
$sh = New-Object -ComObject WScript.Shell
$target = $sh.CreateShortcut('<full-path-to-shortcut>').TargetPath
set-location -LiteralPath $target
make sure you use the full path to the shortcut, not a relative path like .\FolderName.lnk
you can also script it so you always get the absolute path:
$shortcut = '.\Shortcut.lnk'
$absolutepath = Convert-Path -Path $shortcut
$sh = New-Object -ComObject WScript.Shell
$target = $sh.CreateShortcut($absolutepath).TargetPath
Set-Location -LiteralPath $target

Answer 2

As noted by others, .lnk files are not directories,...
Get-ChildItem -Path "$env:USERPROFILE\Desktop"
# Results
<#
Directory: C:\Users\WDAGUtilityAccount\Desktop
Mode LastWriteTime Length Name
---- ------------- ------ ----
-a---- 1/2/2023 1:39 PM 737 Scripts.lnk
#>
...so you cannot directly navigate to them with any directory-like command.
The Desktop is the folder for that file.
(Get-ChildItem -Path "$env:USERPROFILE\Desktop").Fullname
# Results
<#
C:\Users\WDAGUtilityAccount\Desktop\Scripts.lnk
#>
Get-ChildItem -Path "$env:USERPROFILE\Desktop" |
Select-Object -Property '*'
# Results
<#
PSPath : Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\FileSystem::C:\Users\WDAGUtilityAccount\Desktop\Scripts.lnk
PSParentPath : Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\FileSystem::C:\Users\WDAGUtilityAccount\Desktop
PSChildName : Scripts.lnk
PSDrive : C
PSProvider : Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\FileSystem
PSIsContainer : False
Mode : -a----
VersionInfo : File: C:\Users\WDAGUtilityAccount\Desktop\Scripts.lnk
InternalName:
OriginalFilename:
FileVersion:
FileDescription:
Product:
ProductVersion:
Debug: False
Patched: False
PreRelease: False
PrivateBuild: False
SpecialBuild: False
Language:
BaseName : Scripts
Target : {}
LinkType :
Name : Scripts.lnk
Length : 737
DirectoryName : C:\Users\WDAGUtilityAccount\Desktop
Directory : C:\Users\WDAGUtilityAccount\Desktop
IsReadOnly : False
Exists : True
FullName : C:\Users\WDAGUtilityAccount\Desktop\Scripts.lnk
Extension : .lnk
CreationTime : 1/2/2023 1:39:41 PM
CreationTimeUtc : 1/2/2023 9:39:41 PM
LastAccessTime : 1/2/2023 1:39:43 PM
LastAccessTimeUtc : 1/2/2023 9:39:43 PM
LastWriteTime : 1/2/2023 1:39:41 PM
LastWriteTimeUtc : 1/2/2023 9:39:41 PM
Attributes : Archive
#>
So, you have to extract that FQDN from the link and use the available directory/Name commands to navigate to that path.