MS-DOS and Windows command line robocopy command

Robocopy is a robust file copy command for the Windows command line. It allows users to copy files, directories, and even drives from one location to another. 

Robocopy is an external command that is available for the following Microsoft operating systems as robocopy.exe.

Robocopy syntax

ROBOCOPY source destination [file [file]...] [options]

source	Source directory (drive:\path or \\server\share\path).
destination	Destination directory (drive:\path or \\server\share\path).
file	File(s) to copy (names/wildcards: default is "*.*").

Copy options

/S	Copy subdirectories, but not the empty ones.
/E	Copy subdirectories, including the empty ones.
/LEV:n	Only copy the top n levels of the source directory tree.
/Z	Copy files in restartable mode.
/B	Copy files in backup mode.
/ZB	Use restartable mode. If access denied, use backup mode.
/EFSRAW	Copy all encrypted files in EFS RAW mode.
/COPY:copyflag[s]	What to COPY for files (default is /COPY:DAT). (copyflags : D=Data, A=Attributes, T=Timestamps). (S=Security=NTFS ACLs, O=Owner info, U=aUditing info).
/DCOPY:T	COPY the directory timestamps.
/SEC	Copy files with security (equivalent to /COPY:DATS).
/COPYALL	Copy all file info (equivalent to /COPY:DATSOU).
/NOCOPY	Copy no file info (useful with /PURGE).
/SECFIX	Fix file security on all files, even skipped files.
/TIMFIX	Fix file times on all files, even the skipped ones.
/PURGE	Delete dest files/dirs that no longer exist in the source.
/MIR	Mirror a directory tree (equivalent to /E plus /PURGE).
/MOV	Move files (delete from the source after copying).
/MOVE	Move files and dirs (delete from the source after copying).
/A+:[RASHCNET]	Add the given attributes to copied files.
/A-:[RASHCNET]	Remove the given attributes from copied files.
/CREATE	Create directory tree and zero-length files only.
/FAT	Create destination files using 8.3 FAT file names only.
/256	Turn off very long path (> 256 characters) support.
/MON:n	Monitor source; run again when more than n changes seen.
/MOT:m	Monitor source; run again in m minutes time, if changed.
/RH:hhmm-hhmm	Run hours - times when new copies may be started.
/PF	Check run hours on a per file (not per pass) basis.
/IPG:n	Inter-packet gap (ms), to free bandwidth on slow lines.
/SL	Copy symbolic links versus the target.
/MT[:n]	Do multi-threaded copies with n threads (default 8). n must be at least 1 and not greater than 128. This option is incompatible with the /IPG and /EFSRAW options. Redirect output using /LOG option for better performance.

File Selection Options

/A	Copy only the files with the archive attribute set.
/M	Copy only the files with the archive attribute and reset it.
/IA:[RASHCNETO]	Include only the files with any of the given attributes set.
/XA:[RASHCNETO]	Exclude files with any of the given attributes set.
/XF file [file]...	Exclude files matching given names/paths/wildcards.
/XD dirs [dirs]...	Exclude directories matching given names/paths.
/XC	Exclude changed files.
/XN	Exclude newer files.
/XO	Exclude older files.
/XX	Exclude extra files and directories.
/XL	Exclude lonely files and directories.
/IS	Include same files.
/IT	Include tweaked files.
/MAX:n	Maximum file size - exclude files bigger than n bytes.
/MIN:n	Minimum file size - exclude files smaller than n bytes.
/MAXAGE:n	Maximum file age - exclude files older than n days/date.
/MINAGE:n	Minimum file age - exclude files newer than n days/date.
/MAXLAD:n	Maximum last access date - exclude files unused since n.
/MINLAD:n	Minimum last access date - exclude files used since n. (If n < 1900 then n = n days, else n = YYYYMMDD date).
/XJ	Exclude junction points. (normally included by default).
/FFT	Assume FAT file times (2-second granularity).
/DST	Compensate for one-hour DST time differences.
/XJD	Exclude junction points for directories.
/XJF	Exclude junction points for files.

Retry Options

/R:n	Number of retries on failed copies: default 1 million.
/W:n	Wait time between retries: default is 30 seconds.
/REG	Save /R:n and /W:n in the registry as default settings.
/TBD	Wait for sharenames To be defined (retry error 67).

Logging Options

/L	List only - don't copy, timestamp or delete any files.
/X	Report all extra files, not only those selected.
/V	Produce verbose output, showing skipped files.
/TS	Include source file timestamps in the output.
/FP	Include full pathname of files in the output.
/BYTES	Print sizes as bytes.
/NS	No size - don't log file sizes.
/NC	No class - don't log file classes.
/NFL	No file list - don't log file names.
/NDL	No directory List - don't log directory names.
/NP	No progress - don't display percentage copied.
/ETA	Show estimated time of arrival of copied files.
/LOG:file	Output status to LOG file (overwrite existing log).
/LOG+:file	Output status to LOG file (append to existing log).
/UNILOG:file	Output status to LOG file as UNICODE (overwrite existing log).
/UNILOG+:file	Output status to LOG file as UNICODE (append to existing log).
/TEE	Output to console window, as well as the log file.
/NJH	No job header.
/NJS	No job summary.
/UNICODE	Output status as UNICODE.

Job Options

/JOB:jobname	Take parameters from the named job file.
/SAVE:jobname	Save parameters to the named job file.
/QUIT	Quit after processing command line (to view parameters).
/NOSD	No source directory is specified.
/NODD	No destination directory is specified.
/IF	Include the following files.

Robocopy examples

robocopy c:\test c:\test2 *.txt

In this first example, any .txt file would be copied from the test directory into the test2 directory. Whenever you want to copy one or more files and not a complete directory the file must be specified after the destination directory.

robocopy c:\test c:\test2

In the above example, the robocopy command would copy all files (not directories) in the test directory to the test2 directory.

robocopy c:\test c:\test2 /e

In the above example, all files and folders (including empty ones) will be copied from the test directory to the test2 directory.

robocopy c:\test c:\test2 /MIR

This example will mirror what is in c:\hope into c:\test2 and purge any files in the test2 directory that do not exist in the test directory. Use the /mir switch cautiously since it is deleting files that do not match in the destination directory.

robocopy \\mypc\test C:\test2

Next, this example would copy any of the files in the test directory on the network computer named mypc to the current computer test2 directory.