You can determine how CuteFTP handles Symbolic Links. Symbolic Links are similar to shortcuts, they point to items in other locations on a server.
On the menu bar, go to Tools > Global Options.
Expand Navigation.
Click Links.
Attempt link resolution using LIST-L command
Select this check box to have CuteFTP send the LIST-L command instead of LIST to display folder contents. LIST-L attempts to list the actual file or folder rather than the link that points to the file or folder.
Clear this check box to send just the LIST command to display folder contents and leave links in the list.
Servers will not always be able to resolve links using LIST-L, so you can choose more options to deal with links.
Client side link resolution
Choose Try to determine the link's target type by its extension and CuteFTP will try to tell if the link points to a file or a folder. CuteFTP will treat the link as if it were the item it references.
ChooseAlways assume the link is a file (don't attempt to resolve) to treat symbolic links as files. If you download the link it will display as a file with size 0 in your local folder.
Tip: This option is useful when you download large directories or folders with many files and subfolders.
ChooseAlways assume the link is a folder (don't attempt to resolve) to treat symbolic links as folders that you can double-click to see folder contents.
CuteFTP will attempt to show the actual path of a file or folder link in the Remote pane, under the Name column. For example, a link to a file called archive.zip might show .3/networks/bbs_info/archive.zip