# hardlink(1) - man - phpman

> **TLDR:** Consolidate duplicate files by replacing them with hard links.
>
- Perform a dry run without modifying files:
  `hardlink {{-n|--dry-run}} {{path/to/directory}}`
- Hardlink duplicate files in a directory:
  `hardlink {{path/to/directory}}`
- Hardlink duplicate files in multiple directories:
  `hardlink {{path/to/directory1 path/to/directory2 ...}}`
- Display verbose output while hardlinking:
  `hardlink {{-v|--verbose}} {{path/to/directory}}`
- Only consider files with a minimum size:
  `hardlink {{-s|--minimum-size}} {{size}} {{path/to/directory}}`

*Source: tldr-pages*

---

[HARDLINK(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/HARDLINK/1/markdown)                                 User Commands                                [HARDLINK(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/HARDLINK/1/markdown)



## NAME
       hardlink - link multiple copies of a file

## SYNOPSIS
       **hardlink** [options] [_directory_|_file_]...

## DESCRIPTION
       **hardlink** is a tool which replaces copies of a file with hardlinks, therefore saving space.

## OPTIONS
### -h --help
           print quick usage details to the screen.

### -v --verbose
           More verbose output. If specified once, every hardlinked file is displayed, if specified
           twice, it also shows every comparison.

### -q --quiet
           Quiet mode, don’t print anything.

### -n --dry-run
           Do not act, just print what would happen.

### -f --respect-name
           Only try to link files with the same (base)name. It’s strongly recommended to use long
           options rather than **-f** which is interpreted in a different way by other **hardlink**
           implementations.

### -p --ignore-mode
           Link and compare files even if their mode is different. Results may be slightly
           unpredictable.

### -o --ignore-owner
           Link and compare files even if their owner information (user and group) differs. Results
           may be unpredictable.

### -t --ignore-time
           Link and compare files even if their time of modification is different. This is usually a
           good choice.

### -X --respect-xattrs
           Only try to link files with the same extended attributes.

### -m --maximize
           Among equal files, keep the file with the highest link count.

### -M --minimize
           Among equal files, keep the file with the lowest link count.

### -O --keep-oldest
           Among equal files, keep the oldest file (least recent modification time). By default, the
           newest file is kept. If **--maximize** or **--minimize** is specified, the link count has a
           higher precedence than the time of modification.

### -x --exclude
           A regular expression which excludes files from being compared and linked.

### -i --include
           A regular expression to include files. If the option **--exclude** has been given, this
           option re-includes files which would otherwise be excluded. If the option is used without
           **--exclude**, only files matched by the pattern are included.

### -s --minimum-size
           The minimum size to consider. By default this is 1, so empty files will not be linked.
           The _size_ argument may be followed by the multiplicative suffixes KiB (=1024), MiB
           (=1024*1024), and so on for GiB, TiB, PiB, EiB, ZiB and YiB (the "iB" is optional, e.g.,
           "K" has the same meaning as "KiB").

### -S --buffer-size
           The size of read buffer used when comparing file contents (default: 8KiB). This costs
           some additional memory but potentially reduces the amount of seek operations and
           therefore improve performance, especially with mechanic disk drives. Optional factor
           suffixes are supported, like with the **-s** option. This is mostly efficient with other
           filters (i.e. with **-f** or **-X**) and can be less efficient with **-top** options.

## ARGUMENTS
       **hardlink** takes one or more directories which will be searched for files to be linked.

## BUGS
       The original **hardlink** implementation uses the option **-f** to force hardlinks creation between
       filesystem. This very rarely usable feature is no more supported by the current hardlink.

       **hardlink** assumes that the trees it operates on do not change during operation. If a tree does
       change, the result is undefined and potentially dangerous. For example, if a regular file is
       replaced by a device, hardlink may start reading from the device. If a component of a path is
       replaced by a symbolic link or file permissions change, security may be compromised. Do not
       run hardlink on a changing tree or on a tree controlled by another user.

## AUTHOR
       There are multiple **hardlink** implementations. The very first implementation is from Jakub
       Jelinek for Fedora distribution, this implementation has been used in util-linux between
       versions v2.34 to v2.36. The current implementations is based on Debian version from Julian
       Andres Klode.

## REPORTING BUGS
       For bug reports, use the issue tracker at <https://github.com/karelzak/util-linux/issues>.

## AVAILABILITY
       The **hardlink** command is part of the util-linux package which can be downloaded from Linux
       Kernel Archive <<https://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/util-linux/>>.



util-linux 2.37.2                            2026-03-06                                  [HARDLINK(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/HARDLINK/1/markdown)