RoboCopy – Ultimate Guide with Examples

Robocopy is a great command-line utility that is used to copy, mirror, or move large amounts of data quickly and efficiently from one location to another. The power of Robocopy is that it comes with tons of options/switches that you can use to fine-tune and optimize the copy action.

But all those possible options are also the common problem with Robocopy. You probably don’t use it daily, so which switches (options) do you need to use? How did we copy also the NTFS permissions or skip the empty folders?

In this article, we are going to take a look at Robocopy with the help of commonly used examples. What are the best practices? And how do you speed up your copy action?

The Basics

Before we deep dive into Robocopy and look into all the options, let’s first start with the basics. The first and most important to know is that you run Robocopy in a test mode with /L. This will list the result without actually copying or removing any files or folders.

Robocopy "D:\test files" "F:\lab" /L

If you look at the results, you will see which files or folders will be copied, removed, or skipped. When you are new to Robocopy, using the /L parameter first is really a good idea to check if the results are as expected.

Copying all Files

When you use Robocopy without any switches, it will copy only the files from the given location to the destination. It won’t copy any subfolders from the given directory, only the files without NTFS permissions or owner information. All you need to do is specify the source folder and destination folder:

Robocopy "D:\test files" "F:\lab"

Copy all Files and Folders

To copy all files and folders with Robocopy, we will need to specify the parameter /E. This will copy all files and folders from the given directory. If you also want to copy all attributes as well, for example, NTFS permissions or owner attributes, then also add the /COPYALL parameter as well:

Robocopy "D:\test files" "F:\lab" /E /COPYALL

Move Files

When you need to move files from one location to another, then you can use the /mov parameter in Robocopy. This will copy all the files, not the subfolders, to the destination location and once completed delete the files from the source location.

Personally, I am not a big fan of using the /mov or /move parameters. Because if anything goes wrong with the copy action, you also don’t have the source files anymore. So make sure you test the results first with the /L parameter.

Robocopy "D:\testfiles" "c:\temp\testfiles" /mov

When using /mov alone, it won’t copy the file attributes, like NTFS permissions. So you might want to use the /COPYALL parameter as well.

Move Files and Folders

To move also the folders we can use the parameter /move, which should also move the subfolders from the directory. You need to combine this with the /E parameter to go through all the subfolders, otherwise, only the contents of the main folder are moved.

Robocopy "D:\testfiles" "c:\temp\testfiles" /move /e /copyall

The difference with /mov /e is that this will leave the empty folders behind in the source directory, where /move /e also deletes the subfolders once they are copied.

Robocopy Mirror

When you want to mirror a complete directory, then you can use the Robocopy mirror parameter. Mirror will make sure that the destination folder is completely the same as the source.

Good to know is that if you add or remove a file in the destination folder, then this won’t be added to the source. This mirror only from the source to the destination

Note

Don’t use Robocopy mirror as a backup solution. If a file is deleted in the source then it will automatically be delete on the destination as well. So this isn’t a backup solution!

# Mirror files
Robocopy "D:\testfiles\" "c:\temp\testfiles\" /mir

If we look at the results you will see the line Options. This shows which Robocopy switches are used. As you can see /E and /Purge are automatically added. This means that /MIR will also mirror all subdirectories and purge (delete) any files in the destination directory that don’t longer exist in the source.

Robocopy Switches

As mentioned in the beginning, the Robocopy command comes with a lot of switches that you can use. I am not going to fully explain each of them, but below you will find the most commonly used switches that you can use for Robocopy. You can get all information by typing robocopy /?

Copy Options

Option	Description
/S	copy Subdirectories, but not empty ones.
/E	copy subdirectories, including 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.
/J	copy using unbuffered I/O (recommended for large files).
/COPY:copyflag[s]	what to COPY for files (default is /COPY:DAT). (copyflags : D=Data, A=Attributes, T=Timestamps, X=Skip alt data streams). (S=Security=NTFS ACLs, O=Owner info, U=aUditing info).
/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 skipped files.
/PURGE	delete dest files/dirs that no longer exist in source.
/MIR	MIRror a directory tree (equivalent to /E plus /PURGE).
/MOV	MOVe files (delete from source after copying).
/MOVE	MOVE files AND dirs (delete from 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.
/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.
/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.
/DCOPY:copyflag[s]	what to COPY for directories (default is /DCOPY:DA). (copyflags : D=Data, A=Attributes, T=Timestamps, E=EAs, X=Skip alt data streams).
/NODCOPY	COPY NO directory info (by default /DCOPY:DA is done).
/NOOFFLOAD	copy files without using the Windows Copy Offload mechanism.
/COMPRESS	Request network compression during file transfer, if applicable.

File Selection Options

Option	Description
/A	copy only files with the Archive attribute set.
/M	copy only files with the Archive attribute and reset it.
/IA:[RASHCNETO]	Include only files with any of the given Attributes set. R – Read only A – Archive S – System H – Hidden C – Compressed N – Not content indexed E – Encrypted T – Temporary
/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.
/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).
/DST	compensate for one-hour DST time differences.
/XJ	eXclude symbolic links (for both files and directories) and Junction points.
/XJD	eXclude symbolic links for Directories and Junction points.
/XJF	eXclude symbolic links for Files.
/IM	Include Modified files (differing change times).

Retry Options

Option	Description
/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 share names To Be Defined (retry error 67).
/LFSM	Operate in low free space mode, enabling copy pause and resume (see Remarks).
/LFSM:n[KMG]	/LFSM, specifying the floor size in n [K:kilo,M:mega,G:giga] bytes.

Robocopy Examples

As you can see there are a lot of switches that you can use with Robocopy. The best way to learn and understand the robocopy utility is by examples in my opinion. Below you will find some of the most commonly used robocopy commands.

Robocopy Single File

Even though robocopy is primarily designed to copy large amounts of data in a robust way, it’s possible to copy a single file with robocopy. To do this you will need to specify the file name as a filter:

robocopy d:\testfiles c:\temp\dst "file-name-to-copy.txt"

Copy Files by Type

In Robocopy, we can filter which files to copy using wildcards and filenames. This allows us to also filter the files on file type. For example, to copy only the log files from the given directory, we can filter on the extension .log using the wildcard *:

robocopy d:\testfiles c:\temp\dst *.log

As you can see in the screenshot above, I have added the option /s. This will also copy the .log files from the subdirectories. It won’t copy subdirectories that don’t have a .log file.

You can also specify multiple files types, simply leave a space between the files types:

robocopy d:\testfiles c:\temp\dst *.log *.txt

Exclude File Type

Excluding file types in Robocopy is done with the /xf switch. We can use wildcards (* and ?) to specify the file types that we want to exclude. Separate multiple file types with a space between them.

The example below copies all files, except log and txt files:

robocopy d:\testfiles c:\temp\dst /xf *.log *.txt

We can see in the results that 6 files were skipped and 12 files copied.

Copy Files with a Filter

Besides file types, we can also filter on file names or file attributes with Robocopy. The principle of filtering in filenames is similar to filtering on file types. We can use wildcards (* and ?) to filter the part of the filenames.

For example, to filter all files where the name starts with log:

robocopy d:\testfiles c:\temp\dst log*

It’s also possible to filter the files that you want to copy based on an attribute. We can use /IA to copy only the files with a certain attribute or /XA to exclude files with a specific attribute.

For example, to include or exclude files that are marked Read-Only:

# Exclude all files that are read-only
robocopy d:\testfiles c:\temp\dst /XA:R

# Copy only the read-only files
robocopy d:\testfiles c:\temp\dst /IA:R

You can combine all the filter options if you want. The example below copies all files that contain the name sep, as the extension .log and isn’t marked read-only.

robocopy d:\testfiles c:\temp\dst *sep* *.log /XA:R

Copy Contents without Empty Directories

Copying empty folders is not always wanted. To exclude the empty folders we can use the switch /s. This way empty folders won’t be copied:

robocopy d:\testfiles c:\temp\dst /s

Robocopy Exclude Folder

Just like files, we can also exclude folders with Robocopy. For this, we will be using the switch /XD followed by the folder or folders that we want to exclude. We will also be using the /E switch to copy all other subfolders from the directory:

robocopy d:\testfiles c:\temp\dst /e /xd "folder a" "folder c"

Copy based on File Age

Filtering out files based on age is also a common method used with Robocopy. We can use the switches /MINAGE and /MAXAGE for filtering. /MAXAGE is for example useful when you want to copy only the files that are a couple of days old. The age can only be specified in days.

# Copy files that are created last week
robocopy d:\testfiles c:\temp\dst /MAXAGE 7

Or when you want to move all files that are older than a year you can do:

# Move all files that are more then a year old
#
# NOTE - This will DELETE the files from the source!
#
robocopy d:\testfiles c:\temp\dst /MINAGE 365 /MOVE /E

Besides file age, you can also filter the files based on the last access date the file is accessed. For this use the switches /MINLAD and /MAXLAD.

Copy based on File Size

When you want to copy all files large than 10Mb or files only files that a less 1Mb, then you can use the Robocopy switch /max and /min. The file size is specified in bytes.

# Copy only files that are larger then 10Mb
robocopy d:\testfiles c:\temp\dst /MIN:10000000

Include Security (permissions)

When copying files to another NTFS formatted drive, we can also copy the file permissions with /sec. If you use /copyall, then security will also be copied, /sec is the same as /copy:dats (Data, Attributes, Time stamps, NTFS Access control list)

# Copy file including the NTFS permissions
robocopy d:\testfiles c:\temp\dst /SEC

If the destination isn’t an NTFS formatted drive, then the permissions will be lost.

Copy All Files and Folder Information

The /copyall switch in Robocopy only specifies which attributes to copy from the files (everything). By default, only the Data and Attributes of folders are copied. You can also copy the timestamps of the folders, for this you will need to specify /dcopy:dat.

If we combine the two, then we can copy all files and folder information:

# Copy all file and folder information
robocopy d:\testfiles c:\temp\dst /copyall /dcopy:dat

Copy to Network Path

When you need to copy files and folders to another server (network path) then there are a few tips when it comes to using Robocopy. The problem with copying files over the network is that even a short network interruption can cause normal copy actions to start over.

Tip

It’s recommend to use full UNC paths when copying files over the network instead of using mapped drives.

Besides interruption, we also need to keep in mind bandwidth limitations. If you run Robocopy with a multi-threading during business hours on the file server, then there is a chance that your users start complaining. To limit bandwidth usage we can use /ipg:n. Another option is to specify the hours between which Robocopy can run with /RH

So to optimize network transfer with Robocopy we can use the following switches:

Option	Description
/RH:hhmm-hhmm	Specify the time between the job can run
/ZB	Copy files in restartable mode, if access is denied, restart the copy action in backup mode. This will override files and folder permissions that might block access.
/MT:n	Multi-Threaded will speed up the file transfer, n = default 8
/IPG:n	Limit bandwidth usage by telling Robocopy to wait n milliseconds
/R:n	Specify the number of retries
/W:n	Specifies how long to wait between the retry

If you want to run the Robocopy job during business hours, then you might want to limit bandwidth usage with /ipg. Robocopy copies the data in blocks of 64KB, the ipg switch adds a short pause in milliseconds between each block, making room for other data. I won’t go fully in-depth about how it works but /ipg:25 limits the required bandwidth by 50%. And /ipg:9 about 25%.

# Copy all file and folders to network share and limit throughput by 50%
robocopy d:\testfiles \\la-srv-lab02\temp$\dst /copyall /e /ipg:25 /zb /r:3 /w:1

Another good method when transferring data over the network is to schedule it after business hours. With Robocopy we can specify the time between the job can run. For this, we are going to use the /RH switch.

robocopy d:\testfiles \\la-srv-lab02\temp$\dst /copyall /e /rh:1900-0600 /zb /r:3 /w:1

You can see in the screenshot above that the job is paused until 19:00.

Increase Copy Speed with Multi-Threading

Multi-Threading allows you to copy more files simultaneously. By default, it’s set to 8, but you can increase it to 128. So let’s set it as high as possible, right? Well, there is more to it. How high you can set Multi-Threading in Robocopy depends on the source and destination resources. The more disks (and IOPS) you have, the more files the server can simultaneously handle. But also CPU, memory, and bandwidth all need to be taken into account.

In general, we can say, if you have a lot of small files, then it’s worth increasing the multi-threadings. When you have primary large files, then it might be better to lower the number of threads.

I did a quick test with 2500 files, copying them from one SSD disk to another on the same device:

• 8 Threads > 0.72 seconds
• 16 Threads > 0.31 seconds
• 128 Threads > 0.48 seconds

The numbers above are to give you an idea. When you need to copy a large amount of data then it’s a good idea to do some tests on what the optimal number is for your environment.

Robocopy Log

By default, Robocopy outputs the log directly into the console. Great for small copy jobs, but when transferring a large number of files, you might want to save the results to a log. Another benefit of using the log file is that Robocopy will be faster.

Option	Description
/LOG:<path>	Specify the log file to save the information to
/LOG+:	Append the result to an existing log file
/ts	Include the source file time stamp in the log output
/tee	Output to log and console
/fp	Include the full path of the files in the log
/v	Verbose, output also skipped files

It’s even possible to determine what to log or not, like don’t log the directories for example. You can find all the options here in the documentation.

Using log files is really recommended when you are running Robocopy unattended. It gives you the ability to check for any errors afterward, even in case the console is closed. It’s also a good idea the use the log files when transferring a lot of data. This way you can easily check for any copy issues that have occurred.

Make sure that you also specify the file name, not only the log file location.

robocopy d:\testfiles \\la-srv-lab02\temp$\dst /copyall /e /log:c:\temp\dst.log /zb /r:3 /w:1

FAQ

Wrapping Up

When you need to copy large amounts of data, then Robocopy is one of the best tools to use. It comes with a lot of options, as you have seen, to help you with copying data in the most efficient way. When working with large data sets, make sure that you test your commands with the /L switch before running them on production data.

I hope you found this article useful, if you have any questions, just drop a comment below.