Understanding Robocopy

Written by Barry Dysert (last updated September 25, 2017)

Robocopy (a made-up program name meaning Robust File Copy) is a command-line utility that comes with Windows. When you're doing a lot of file management, you need something more powerful than what is provided through Windows Explorer or File Explorer. Robocopy is one alternative. It does require some typing instead of clicking, but its increased set of functionality more than offsets any inconvenience this may cause.

One of the first things you should know is that Robocopy is designed to work with directories more so than with individual files (although it can still deal with both). Another thing to be aware of is the multitude of options (or switches) that can be used to augment Robocopy's behavior.

The basic syntax for a Robocopy command is:

Robocopy source destination [file [file]...] [options]

Since it was designed to deal with directories, both the source and destination parameters are specified as "drive:\path" or "\\server\share\path". The file parameters are literal file names, and you can use the "?" and "*" wildcards if needed. The optional options parameter consists of switches that you can specify to augment Robocopy's behavior. For example, if you want Robocopy to execute in restartable mode you would specify the /Z switch.

The power of Robocopy lies in knowing the options and how to use them. See other Tips on Robocopy for some examples of specific actions that are common among Robocopy users. To see what all options are available and what they do, type "Robocopy /?" at a command prompt, and begin to experiment.

This tip (13186) applies to Windows 7, 8, and 10.

Author Bio

Barry Dysert

Barry has been a computer professional for over 35 years, working in different positions such as technical team leader, project manager, and software developer. He is currently a software engineer with an emphasis on developing custom applications under Microsoft Windows. When not working with Windows or writing Tips, Barry is an amateur writer. His first non-fiction book is titled "A Chronological Commentary of Revelation." Learn more about Barry...

MORE FROM BARRY

Changing a Computer's Name

If you don't like the name that was assigned to your computer when it was put together, it's pretty easy to change. This ...

Discover More

Deleting a Media Player Playlist

Most people like to keep their Windows Media Player organized. One way to maintain it is to keep track of the various ...

Discover More

Copying Data with XCopy

XCopy is a file and directory copy utility built into Windows. If you have a lot of file management to do that can't ...

Discover More

More WindowsTips

Understanding ZIP Folders

Need to move a lot of information to someone else? The answer may be to store that information in a ZIP folder. Here's ...

Discover More

Understanding Storage Spaces

Need to add some additional drive space to your system? Why not consider adding what Microsoft calls a "storage space?" ...

Discover More

Filtering a Folder's Content

If you have lots of files on your computer, it is helpful to filter the files to more easily find a specific one. When ...

Discover More

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

Notify me about new comments ONLY FOR THIS TIP

Notify me about new comments ANYWHERE ON THIS SITE

Hide my email address

What is 9 - 4?

2018-05-04 06:08:26

Ginni

GS Richcopy 360 boasts several impressive features, most notably a smart drive letter detection that recognizes your thumb drive even if it's assigned a different letter each time.recomended.