diff --git a/launcher/FileSystem.cpp b/launcher/FileSystem.cpp
index c363f6ea0..4ee3899b0 100644
--- a/launcher/FileSystem.cpp
+++ b/launcher/FileSystem.cpp
@@ -242,6 +242,14 @@ bool copy::operator()(const QString& offset, bool dryRun)
     return err.value() == 0;
 }
 
+/// qDebug print support for the LinkPair struct
+QDebug operator<<(QDebug debug, const LinkPair& lp)
+{
+    QDebugStateSaver saver(debug);
+
+    debug.nospace() << "LinkPair{ src: " << lp.src << " , dst: " << lp.dst << " }";
+    return debug;
+}
 
 bool create_link::operator()(const QString& offset, bool dryRun) 
 {
@@ -265,7 +273,7 @@ bool create_link::operator()(const QString& offset, bool dryRun)
  * @param offset subdirectory form src to link to dest
  * @return if there was an error during the attempt to link
  */
-void create_link::make_link_list( const QString& offset)
+void create_link::make_link_list(const QString& offset)
 {
     for (auto pair : m_path_pairs) {
         const QString& srcPath = pair.src;
@@ -297,14 +305,26 @@ void create_link::make_link_list( const QString& offset)
             link_file(src, "");
         } else {
             if (m_debug)
-                qDebug() << "linking recursivly:" << src << "to" << dst;
+                qDebug() << "linking recursivly:" << src << "to" << dst << "max_depth:" << m_max_depth;
             QDir src_dir(src);
             QDirIterator source_it(src, QDir::Filter::Files | QDir::Filter::Hidden, QDirIterator::Subdirectories);
 
+            QStringList linkedPaths;
+
             while (source_it.hasNext()) {
                 auto src_path = source_it.next();
                 auto relative_path = src_dir.relativeFilePath(src_path);
 
+                if (m_max_depth >= 0 && PathDepth(relative_path) > m_max_depth){
+                    relative_path = PathTruncate(relative_path, m_max_depth);
+                    src_path = src_dir.filePath(relative_path);
+                    if (linkedPaths.contains(src_path)) {
+                        continue;
+                    }
+                }
+
+                linkedPaths.append(src_path);
+
                 link_file(src_path, relative_path);
             }
         }
@@ -312,7 +332,7 @@ void create_link::make_link_list( const QString& offset)
 }
 
 bool create_link::make_links()
-{
+{   
     for (auto link : m_links_to_make) {
 
         QString src_path = link.src;
@@ -556,11 +576,49 @@ QString PathCombine(const QString& path1, const QString& path2, const QString& p
     return PathCombine(PathCombine(path1, path2, path3), path4);
 }
 
-QString AbsolutePath(QString path)
+QString AbsolutePath(const QString& path)
 {
     return QFileInfo(path).absolutePath();
 }
 
+int PathDepth(const QString& path)
+{
+    if (path.isEmpty()) return 0;
+
+    QFileInfo info(path);
+
+    auto parts = QDir::toNativeSeparators(info.path()).split(QDir::separator(), Qt::SkipEmptyParts);
+
+    int numParts = QDir::toNativeSeparators(info.path()).split(QDir::separator(), Qt::SkipEmptyParts).length();
+    numParts -= parts.count(".");
+    numParts -= parts.count("..") * 2;
+    
+    return numParts;
+}
+
+QString PathTruncate(const QString& path, int depth)
+{
+    if (path.isEmpty() || (depth < 0) ) return "";
+
+    QString trunc = QFileInfo(path).path();
+
+    if (PathDepth(trunc) > depth ) {
+        return PathTruncate(trunc, depth);
+    }
+
+    auto parts = QDir::toNativeSeparators(trunc).split(QDir::separator(), Qt::SkipEmptyParts);
+    if (parts.startsWith(".") && !path.startsWith(".")) {
+        parts.removeFirst();
+    }
+    if (path.startsWith(QDir::separator())) {
+        parts.prepend("");
+    }
+
+    trunc = parts.join(QDir::separator());
+
+    return trunc;
+}
+
 QString ResolveExecutable(QString path)
 {
     if (path.isEmpty()) {
diff --git a/launcher/FileSystem.h b/launcher/FileSystem.h
index 83ff99a4e..7485206a9 100644
--- a/launcher/FileSystem.h
+++ b/launcher/FileSystem.h
@@ -200,6 +200,11 @@ class create_link : public QObject {
         m_recursive = recursive;
         return *this;
     }
+    create_link& setMaxDepth(int depth)
+    {
+        m_max_depth = depth;
+        return *this;
+    }
     create_link& debug(bool d)
     {
         m_debug = d;
@@ -239,6 +244,9 @@ class create_link : public QObject {
     bool m_whitelist = false;
     bool m_recursive = true;
 
+    /// @brief >= -1 = infinite, 0 = link files at src/* to dest/*, 1 = link files at src/*/* to dest/*/*, etc.
+    int m_max_depth = -1;
+
     QList<LinkPair> m_path_pairs;
     QList<LinkResult> m_path_results;
     QList<LinkPair> m_links_to_make;
@@ -272,7 +280,25 @@ QString PathCombine(const QString& path1, const QString& path2);
 QString PathCombine(const QString& path1, const QString& path2, const QString& path3);
 QString PathCombine(const QString& path1, const QString& path2, const QString& path3, const QString& path4);
 
-QString AbsolutePath(QString path);
+QString AbsolutePath(const QString& path);
+
+/**
+ * @brief depth of path. "foo.txt" -> 0 , "bar/foo.txt" -> 1, /baz/bar/foo.txt -> 2, etc.
+ * 
+ * @param path path to measure
+ * @return int number of componants before base path
+ */
+int PathDepth(const QString& path);
+
+
+/**
+ * @brief  cut off segments of path untill it is a max of length depth
+ * 
+ * @param path path to truncate
+ * @param depth max depth of new path
+ * @return QString truncated path
+ */
+QString PathTruncate(const QString& path, int depth);
 
 /**
  * Resolve an executable
diff --git a/launcher/InstanceCopyPrefs.cpp b/launcher/InstanceCopyPrefs.cpp
index c03d0aae4..0650002b8 100644
--- a/launcher/InstanceCopyPrefs.cpp
+++ b/launcher/InstanceCopyPrefs.cpp
@@ -16,8 +16,13 @@ bool InstanceCopyPrefs::allTrue() const
         copyScreenshots;
 }
 
+
 // Returns a single RegEx string of the selected folders/files to filter out (ex: ".minecraft/saves|.minecraft/server.dat")
 QString InstanceCopyPrefs::getSelectedFiltersAsRegex() const
+{
+    return getSelectedFiltersAsRegex({});
+}
+QString InstanceCopyPrefs::getSelectedFiltersAsRegex(const QStringList& additionalFilters) const
 {
     QStringList filters;
 
@@ -42,6 +47,10 @@ QString InstanceCopyPrefs::getSelectedFiltersAsRegex() const
     if(!copyScreenshots)
         filters << "screenshots";
 
+    for (auto filter : additionalFilters) {
+        filters << filter;
+    }
+
     // If we have any filters to add, join them as a single regex string to return:
     if (!filters.isEmpty()) {
         const QString MC_ROOT = "[.]?minecraft/";
diff --git a/launcher/InstanceCopyPrefs.h b/launcher/InstanceCopyPrefs.h
index 14ae95518..c7bde0682 100644
--- a/launcher/InstanceCopyPrefs.h
+++ b/launcher/InstanceCopyPrefs.h
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ struct InstanceCopyPrefs {
    public:
     [[nodiscard]] bool allTrue() const;
     [[nodiscard]] QString getSelectedFiltersAsRegex() const;
+    [[nodiscard]] QString getSelectedFiltersAsRegex(const QStringList& additionalFilters) const;
     // Getters
     [[nodiscard]] bool isCopySavesEnabled() const;
     [[nodiscard]] bool isKeepPlaytimeEnabled() const;
diff --git a/launcher/InstanceCopyTask.cpp b/launcher/InstanceCopyTask.cpp
index ba0052fad..40babd0fe 100644
--- a/launcher/InstanceCopyTask.cpp
+++ b/launcher/InstanceCopyTask.cpp
@@ -4,13 +4,14 @@
 #include "NullInstance.h"
 #include "pathmatcher/RegexpMatcher.h"
 #include <QtConcurrentRun>
+#include <QDebug>
 
 InstanceCopyTask::InstanceCopyTask(InstancePtr origInstance, const InstanceCopyPrefs& prefs)
 {
     m_origInstance = origInstance;
     m_keepPlaytime = prefs.isKeepPlaytimeEnabled();
 
-    QString filters = prefs.getSelectedFiltersAsRegex();
+    
 
     
     m_useLinks = prefs.isUseSymLinksEnabled();
@@ -18,6 +19,14 @@ InstanceCopyTask::InstanceCopyTask(InstancePtr origInstance, const InstanceCopyP
     m_useHardLinks = prefs.isLinkRecursivelyEnabled() && prefs.isUseHardLinksEnabled();
     m_copySaves = prefs.isLinkRecursivelyEnabled() && prefs.isDontLinkSavesEnabled() && prefs.isCopySavesEnabled();
     m_useClone = prefs.isUseCloneEnabled();
+    
+    QString filters = prefs.getSelectedFiltersAsRegex();
+    if (m_useLinks || m_useHardLinks) {
+        if (!filters.isEmpty()) filters += "|";
+        filters += "instance.cfg";
+    } 
+
+    qDebug() << "CopyFilters:" << filters;
 
     if (!filters.isEmpty())
     {
@@ -46,9 +55,10 @@ void InstanceCopyTask::executeTask()
             folderClone.matcher(m_matcher.get());
 
             return folderClone();
-        } else if (m_useLinks) {
+        } else if (m_useLinks || m_useHardLinks) {
             FS::create_link folderLink(m_origInstance->instanceRoot(), m_stagingPath);
-            folderLink.linkRecursively(m_linkRecursively).useHardLinks(m_useHardLinks).matcher(m_matcher.get());
+            int depth = m_linkRecursively ? -1 : 0; // we need to at least link the top level instead of the instance folder
+            folderLink.linkRecursively(true).setMaxDepth(depth).useHardLinks(m_useHardLinks).matcher(m_matcher.get());
 
             bool there_were_errors = false;
 
diff --git a/launcher/MMCZip.cpp b/launcher/MMCZip.cpp
index b4b663c1b..1a336375b 100644
--- a/launcher/MMCZip.cpp
+++ b/launcher/MMCZip.cpp
@@ -102,8 +102,13 @@ bool MMCZip::compressDirFiles(QuaZip *zip, QString dir, QFileInfoList files, boo
     for (auto e : files) {
         auto filePath = directory.relativeFilePath(e.absoluteFilePath());
         auto srcPath = e.absoluteFilePath();
-        if (followSymlinks)
-            srcPath = e.canonicalFilePath();
+        if (followSymlinks) {
+            if (e.isSymLink()) {
+                srcPath = e.symLinkTarget();
+            } else {
+                srcPath = e.canonicalFilePath();
+            }
+        }
         if( !JlCompress::compressFile(zip, srcPath, filePath)) return false;
     }
 
@@ -119,7 +124,7 @@ bool MMCZip::compressDirFiles(QString fileCompressed, QString dir, QFileInfoList
         return false;
     }
 
-    auto result = compressDirFiles(&zip, dir, files);
+    auto result = compressDirFiles(&zip, dir, files, followSymlinks);
 
     zip.close();
     if(zip.getZipError()!=0) {
diff --git a/launcher/ui/dialogs/CopyInstanceDialog.cpp b/launcher/ui/dialogs/CopyInstanceDialog.cpp
index c6cbefcf4..9fe129f13 100644
--- a/launcher/ui/dialogs/CopyInstanceDialog.cpp
+++ b/launcher/ui/dialogs/CopyInstanceDialog.cpp
@@ -171,17 +171,18 @@ void CopyInstanceDialog::updateSelectAllCheckbox()
 
 void CopyInstanceDialog::updateUseCloneCheckbox()
 {
-    ui->useCloneCheckbox->setEnabled(m_cloneSupported && !ui->linkFilesGroup->isChecked());
-    ui->useCloneCheckbox->setChecked(m_cloneSupported && m_selectedOptions.isUseCloneEnabled());
+    ui->useCloneCheckbox->setEnabled(m_cloneSupported && !ui->symbolicLinksCheckbox->isChecked() && !ui->hardLinksCheckbox->isChecked());
+    ui->useCloneCheckbox->setChecked(m_cloneSupported && m_selectedOptions.isUseCloneEnabled() && !ui->symbolicLinksCheckbox->isChecked() &&
+                                     !ui->hardLinksCheckbox->isChecked());
 }
 
 void CopyInstanceDialog::updateLinkOptions()
 {
-    ui->symbolicLinksCheckbox->setEnabled(m_linkSupported && !ui->hardLinksCheckbox->isChecked());
-    ui->hardLinksCheckbox->setEnabled(m_linkSupported && !ui->symbolicLinksCheckbox->isChecked());
+    ui->symbolicLinksCheckbox->setEnabled(m_linkSupported && !ui->hardLinksCheckbox->isChecked() && !ui->useCloneCheckbox->isChecked());
+    ui->hardLinksCheckbox->setEnabled(m_linkSupported && !ui->symbolicLinksCheckbox->isChecked() && !ui->useCloneCheckbox->isChecked());
 
-    ui->symbolicLinksCheckbox->setChecked(m_linkSupported && m_selectedOptions.isUseSymLinksEnabled());
-    ui->hardLinksCheckbox->setChecked(m_linkSupported && m_selectedOptions.isUseHardLinksEnabled());
+    ui->symbolicLinksCheckbox->setChecked(m_linkSupported && m_selectedOptions.isUseSymLinksEnabled() && !ui->useCloneCheckbox->isChecked());
+    ui->hardLinksCheckbox->setChecked(m_linkSupported && m_selectedOptions.isUseHardLinksEnabled() && !ui->useCloneCheckbox->isChecked());
 
     bool linksInUse = (ui->symbolicLinksCheckbox->isChecked() || ui->hardLinksCheckbox->isChecked());
     ui->recursiveLinkCheckbox->setEnabled(m_linkSupported && linksInUse && !ui->hardLinksCheckbox->isChecked());
@@ -278,16 +279,14 @@ void CopyInstanceDialog::on_hardLinksCheckbox_stateChanged(int state)
     if (state == Qt::Checked && !ui->recursiveLinkCheckbox->isChecked()) {
         ui->recursiveLinkCheckbox->setChecked(true);
     }
+    updateUseCloneCheckbox();
     updateLinkOptions();
 }
 
 void CopyInstanceDialog::on_recursiveLinkCheckbox_stateChanged(int state)
 {
     m_selectedOptions.enableLinkRecursively(state == Qt::Checked);
-    if (state != Qt::Checked) {
-        ui->hardLinksCheckbox->setChecked(false);
-        ui->dontLinkSavesCheckbox->setChecked(false);
-    }
+    updateLinkOptions();
 
 }
 
@@ -299,6 +298,6 @@ void CopyInstanceDialog::on_dontLinkSavesCheckbox_stateChanged(int state)
 void CopyInstanceDialog::on_useCloneCheckbox_stateChanged(int state)
 {
     m_selectedOptions.enableUseClone(m_cloneSupported && (state == Qt::Checked));
-    ui->linkFilesGroup->setEnabled(!m_selectedOptions.isUseCloneEnabled());
     updateUseCloneCheckbox();
+    updateLinkOptions();
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/tests/FileSystem_test.cpp b/tests/FileSystem_test.cpp
index 4ccc4003d..4418dd627 100644
--- a/tests/FileSystem_test.cpp
+++ b/tests/FileSystem_test.cpp
@@ -57,6 +57,11 @@ class LinkTask : public Task {
         m_lnk->whitelist(b);
     }
 
+    void setMaxDepth(int depth)
+    {
+        m_lnk->setMaxDepth(depth);
+    }
+
    private:
     void executeTask() override
     {
@@ -630,6 +635,149 @@ slots:
             QVERIFY(target_dir.entryList(filter).contains("pack.mcmeta"));
         }
     }
+
+    void test_link_with_max_depth()
+    {
+        QString folder = QFINDTESTDATA("testdata/FileSystem/test_folder");
+        auto f = [&folder, this]()
+        {
+            QTemporaryDir tempDir;
+            tempDir.setAutoRemove(true);
+            qDebug() << "From:" << folder << "To:" << tempDir.path();
+
+            QDir target_dir(FS::PathCombine(tempDir.path(), "test_folder"));
+            qDebug() << tempDir.path();
+            qDebug() << target_dir.path();
+
+            LinkTask lnk_tsk(folder, target_dir.path());
+            lnk_tsk.linkRecursively(true);
+            lnk_tsk.setMaxDepth(0);
+            QObject::connect(&lnk_tsk, &Task::finished, [&]{ 
+                QVERIFY2(lnk_tsk.wasSuccessful(), "Task finished but was not successful when it should have been."); 
+            });
+            lnk_tsk.start();
+
+            QVERIFY2(QTest::qWaitFor([&]() {
+                return lnk_tsk.isFinished();
+            }, 100000), "Task didn't finish as it should.");
+
+            QVERIFY(!QFileInfo(target_dir.path()).isSymLink());
+
+            auto filter = QDir::Filter::Files | QDir::Filter::Dirs | QDir::Filter::Hidden;
+            for(auto entry: target_dir.entryList(filter))
+            {
+                qDebug() << entry;
+                if (entry == "." || entry == "..") continue;
+                QFileInfo entry_lnk_info(target_dir.filePath(entry));
+                QVERIFY(entry_lnk_info.isSymLink());
+            }
+
+            QFileInfo lnk_info(target_dir.path());
+            QVERIFY(lnk_info.exists());
+            QVERIFY(!lnk_info.isSymLink());
+
+            QVERIFY(target_dir.entryList().contains("pack.mcmeta"));
+            QVERIFY(target_dir.entryList().contains("assets"));
+
+
+        };
+
+        // first try variant without trailing /
+        QVERIFY(!folder.endsWith('/'));
+        f();
+
+        // then variant with trailing /
+        folder.append('/');
+        QVERIFY(folder.endsWith('/'));
+        f();
+    }
+
+    void test_link_with_no_max_depth()
+    {
+        QString folder = QFINDTESTDATA("testdata/FileSystem/test_folder");
+        auto f = [&folder]()
+        {
+            QTemporaryDir tempDir;
+            tempDir.setAutoRemove(true);
+            qDebug() << "From:" << folder << "To:" << tempDir.path();
+
+            QDir target_dir(FS::PathCombine(tempDir.path(), "test_folder"));
+            qDebug() << tempDir.path();
+            qDebug() << target_dir.path();
+
+            LinkTask lnk_tsk(folder, target_dir.path());
+            lnk_tsk.linkRecursively(true);
+            lnk_tsk.setMaxDepth(-1);
+            QObject::connect(&lnk_tsk, &Task::finished, [&]{ 
+                QVERIFY2(lnk_tsk.wasSuccessful(), "Task finished but was not successful when it should have been."); 
+            });
+            lnk_tsk.start();
+
+            QVERIFY2(QTest::qWaitFor([&]() {
+                return lnk_tsk.isFinished();
+            }, 100000), "Task didn't finish as it should.");
+
+
+            std::function<void(QString)> verify_check = [&](QString check_path) {
+                QDir check_dir(check_path);
+                auto filter = QDir::Filter::Files | QDir::Filter::Dirs | QDir::Filter::Hidden;
+                for(auto entry: check_dir.entryList(filter))
+                {
+                    QFileInfo entry_lnk_info(check_dir.filePath(entry));
+                    qDebug() << entry << check_dir.filePath(entry);
+                    if (!entry_lnk_info.isDir()){
+                        QVERIFY(entry_lnk_info.isSymLink());
+                    } else if (entry != "." && entry != "..") {
+                        qDebug() << "Decending tree to verify symlinks:" << check_dir.filePath(entry);
+                        verify_check(entry_lnk_info.filePath());
+                    }
+                }
+            };
+            
+            verify_check(target_dir.path());
+            
+
+            QFileInfo lnk_info(target_dir.path());
+            QVERIFY(lnk_info.exists());
+
+            QVERIFY(target_dir.entryList().contains("pack.mcmeta"));
+            QVERIFY(target_dir.entryList().contains("assets"));
+        };
+
+        // first try variant without trailing /
+        QVERIFY(!folder.endsWith('/'));
+        f();
+
+        // then variant with trailing /
+        folder.append('/');
+        QVERIFY(folder.endsWith('/'));
+        f();
+    }
+
+    void test_path_depth() {
+        QCOMPARE_EQ(FS::PathDepth(""), 0);
+        QCOMPARE_EQ(FS::PathDepth("."), 0);
+        QCOMPARE_EQ(FS::PathDepth("foo.txt"), 0);
+        QCOMPARE_EQ(FS::PathDepth("./foo.txt"), 0);
+        QCOMPARE_EQ(FS::PathDepth("./bar/foo.txt"), 1);
+        QCOMPARE_EQ(FS::PathDepth("../bar/foo.txt"), 0);
+        QCOMPARE_EQ(FS::PathDepth("/bar/foo.txt"), 1);
+        QCOMPARE_EQ(FS::PathDepth("baz/bar/foo.txt"), 2);
+        QCOMPARE_EQ(FS::PathDepth("/baz/bar/foo.txt"), 2);
+        QCOMPARE_EQ(FS::PathDepth("./baz/bar/foo.txt"), 2);
+        QCOMPARE_EQ(FS::PathDepth("/baz/../bar/foo.txt"), 1);
+    }
+
+    void test_path_trunc() {
+        QCOMPARE_EQ(FS::PathTruncate("", 0), "");
+        QCOMPARE_EQ(FS::PathTruncate("foo.txt", 0), "");
+        QCOMPARE_EQ(FS::PathTruncate("foo.txt", 1), "");
+        QCOMPARE_EQ(FS::PathTruncate("./bar/foo.txt", 0), "./bar");
+        QCOMPARE_EQ(FS::PathTruncate("./bar/foo.txt", 1), "./bar");
+        QCOMPARE_EQ(FS::PathTruncate("/bar/foo.txt", 1), "/bar");
+        QCOMPARE_EQ(FS::PathTruncate("bar/foo.txt", 1), "bar");
+        QCOMPARE_EQ(FS::PathTruncate("baz/bar/foo.txt", 2), "baz/bar");
+    }
 };
 
 QTEST_GUILESS_MAIN(FileSystemTest)