diff --git a/src/common/filesystem/paths.js b/src/common/filesystem/paths.js
index 9961466fd..4b9ef0203 100644
--- a/src/common/filesystem/paths.js
+++ b/src/common/filesystem/paths.js
@@ -2,8 +2,10 @@ import fs from 'fs'
 import path from 'path'
 import { isFile, isFile2, isSymbolicLink } from './index'
 import { minimatch } from 'minimatch'
+import { shell } from 'electron'
 
 const isOsx = process.platform === 'darwin'
+const isWindows = process.platform === 'win32'
 
 export const MARKDOWN_EXTENSIONS = Object.freeze([
   'markdown',
@@ -30,7 +32,7 @@ export const IMAGE_EXTENSIONS = Object.freeze(['jpeg', 'jpg', 'png', 'gif', 'svg
  */
 export const hasMarkdownExtension = (filename) => {
   if (!filename || typeof filename !== 'string') return false
-  return MARKDOWN_EXTENSIONS.some((ext) => filename.toLowerCase().endsWith(`.${ext}`))
+  return MARKDOWN_EXTENSIONS.some((ext) => resolveShortcut(filename).toLowerCase().endsWith(`.${ext}`))
 }
 
 /**
@@ -133,3 +135,19 @@ export const checkPathExcludePattern = (pathname, patterns) => {
   }
   return false
 }
+
+/**
+ * Returns the actual path pointed to by a shortcut file, or the original path if resolution fails.
+ * @param {string} The absolute path of the shortcut file.
+ */
+export const resolveShortcut = (shortcutPath) => {
+  try {
+    if (isWindows) {
+      return shell.readShortcutLink(shortcutPath)?.target || shortcutPath
+    } else {
+      return shortcutPath
+    }
+  } catch {
+    return shortcutPath
+  }
+}
diff --git a/src/main/filesystem/markdown.js b/src/main/filesystem/markdown.js
index c0ebc69c8..602a566ee 100644
--- a/src/main/filesystem/markdown.js
+++ b/src/main/filesystem/markdown.js
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ import log from 'electron-log'
 import iconv from 'iconv-lite'
 import { LINE_ENDING_REG, LF_LINE_ENDING_REG, CRLF_LINE_ENDING_REG } from '../config'
 import { isDirectory2 } from 'common/filesystem'
-import { isMarkdownFile } from 'common/filesystem/paths'
+import { isMarkdownFile, resolveShortcut } from 'common/filesystem/paths'
 import { normalizeAndResolvePath, writeFile } from '../filesystem'
 import { guessEncoding } from './encoding'
 
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ export const loadMarkdownFile = async (
   // TODO: Use streams to not buffer the file multiple times and only guess
   //       encoding on the first 256/512 bytes.
 
-  let buffer = await fsPromises.readFile(path.resolve(pathname))
+  let buffer = await fsPromises.readFile(path.resolve(resolveShortcut(pathname)))
 
   const encoding = guessEncoding(buffer, autoGuessEncoding)
   const supported = iconv.encodingExists(encoding.encoding)