Why is WoW deleting symlink folders now

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1

Since 8.2.5 on multiple computers that I have symlink folders set up (for syncing saved variables and addons) once I’m out of wow, it’s deleted. I have to keep setting them up now. This did not happen pre 8.2.5

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2

I am not familiar with this, you might want to check with tech support. Hopefully this will be moved there.

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EDIT: was moved there, sorry.

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I also use symbolic links to have my addons backed up to my dropbox and synced between multiple devices. The symlinks are overwritten every time Warcraft exits and is very frustrating. Would love to know a way to stop my symlinks from getting eaten by wow.

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Happening here as well – symlink to dropbox and now everytime there’s an update it deletes the symlinks

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Same, symlinks to sync addons and account into dropbox, they are removed each update.

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Also experiencing this!
I use symlinks (“Shortcuts” in Windows) to save my Addons and Saved Variables folders in Dropbox for backup, and as of 8.2.5 they get replaced with an empty folder. This has worked for several expansions so it seems like 8.2.5 is the culprit.

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The same problem is happening for junctions and hard links as well. I even removed the “delete” permission from the links and somehow the battle.net client is still deleting them.

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Yeah this started with the release of Classic and now has made it’s way into Retail with the 8.2.5 patch. At first I thought I was going crazy, but it was only affecting Classic so not a huge deal. But today, it’s wiped out my Junctions 2 or 3 times (due to small patches being applied). I’ve since written an app to monitor my junctions and recreate them on deletion.

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Having this happen also. I play all day and go back and forth between two computers. I put all my addon and account data onto OneDrive and use symlinks to access it on all my devices. Every time i fire up BNet I have to rebuild the links.

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Can we get a blue that they acknowledge the problem? This is very annoying to re-symlink everytime i switch computers or even reboot WoW. I have been using symlinks with WoW for many many years (maybe a decade now) to have same experience between computers and backup saved variables (started when my saved variables got deleted or corrupted twice and redoing everything from scratch sux).

I know it’s probably only a small % of people that use this or junctions but it would be nice to acknowledge this is happening.

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12

I, too, am experiencing this, but I use it in a slightly different manner. I symlink my account folders for multiple accounts so that my addons behave in a certain manner with profiles etc. It’s pretty annoying to have to go in and remake the link several times a day now. I’m not sure why blizzard would randomly do something like this.

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I’ve made a batch script to automate it, still annoying AF.

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This NEEDS a blue response. I provide support for my brother for this and both of us are getting really annoyed that this is happening to both of us.

I tried setting the deny delete, we’ll see where that leads me.

And just to clarify, some people said it might be twitch. It’s not. I have it happening on a computer I don’t even have twitch on. Since I update all my addons from a central PC

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15

Just throwing in my 2 coppers to say this is happening here as well. Very annoying to have to recreate the links every time I try and play.

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16

There is another thread about this same issue in which I have posted a work around. It’s dangerous if you don’t understand what you’re doing, but its working for me for now.

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17

Thanks for the work around. I’ve got it set up and thats a good stop gap for now.

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18

Howdy!

Sorry for the late reply on this! The Symlinks in the World of Warcraft addon folder being deleted on update is a known issue, this is being investigated by our Battle.net team. I would recommend if you can hold out for the fix to do so instead of trying any workarounds as they may conflict with the fix once resolved.

Thank you!

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Thanks for the update

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Thanks for the update. This is driving me batty, and recreating the links isn’t always working. Does this mean that they know why it is happening, and the fix is already in the works? Any estimate on whether this will be in the next hotfix?