Comparisons & alternatives · Files, links and archive formats
What's the difference between a symbolic link, an alias and a hard link on a Mac?
Short answer: An alias is a Finder feature many apps can't follow; a symbolic link points to a path and every app follows it; a hard link is a second name for the same file on the same volume and can't cross drives.
They all make one item reachable from another place, in different ways:
- Alias — a Finder feature. Finder can usually follow it even if the original is renamed or moved, but many apps and command-line tools see it as an ordinary small file.
- Symbolic link — a pointer to a path, understood by macOS itself, so every app and tool follows it. If the original's path changes, or the drive it's on is unplugged, the link has nothing to point at.
- Hard link — a second name for the very same file on the same volume. It can't cross to another drive, and the file only goes away when every name for it is deleted.
Storage Studio's shortcut left behind after a move is a system-level link of the second kind, which is why apps keep working with relocated folders. See Storage Studio's shortcut vs a Finder alias.