Accessing “link to a document” in windows explorer view

Question

Good morning,

I have a library that contains 5 folders and 1 "link to a document". The "link to a document" is linked to a separate document library.

The files within this separate document library were originally in the first library referenced but were large in size and causing the system to move slowly.

Our group is heavily reliant on the "Open with Explorer" option in SharePoint which allows them to navigate through folders and sub-folders using Windows Explorer.

Currently, the 5 folders and all content within can be accessed using Windows Explorer view but the "link to a document" doesn't connect to the new library... instead, some SharePoint Designer file opens up. Can the Windows Explorer view be fixed so that when clicking the "link to a document", the user is directed to the other library?

Answer 1

Link to document as the name suggests is only a link to the actual document stored somewhere else. The "Link to document" content type has a template that is an ASPX page that contains a server side control named SharePoint:UrlRedirector. When this page is rendered it simply redirects to the address listed in the items URL property.

So there is no way it will work with "Open in explorer". The document library stores the actual files, and the Link to a document feature creates an ASPX file that includes redirect code. So all that is seen by Windows Explorer is the ASPX file. This is expected behaviour.