Windows copy command syntax and examples

Using copy command, we can copy files from one directory to another directory. This command is similar to the Linux cp command, but it does not match with the full functionality of cp. Windows copy command can be used to copy files only, we can’t copy directories.

The syntax and usecases of copy command are explained below with examples.

Copy the contents of a file to another file

Example: To copy a file from c:\data\file1.doc to D:\backup\file2.doc

If the destination file already exists you will be prompted for confirmation. To suppress this confirmation you can use /Y switch with copy command. This would be useful if you are executing copy command from a batch file.

If the destination file exists, the above command will overwrite the same without asking the user for confirmation.

Copy file to another directory

When we specify a directory path as the destination, the files will be copied with the same name. We can assign a different name by specifying the new name in the destination path. Example is shown below.

To copy the file 1.doc loated at c:\data\documents to the directory c:\data\newdocs

Copy files with white space in name

If the file name has white space within it, we can wrap up the name in double quotes.
Example: To copy file, my resume.doc to another folder

Copy multiple files

We can’t specify multiple file names in copy command. However, we can use wildcards to identify a group of files and then copy all of them in a single command.
For example, to copy all excel files from current folder to another folder F:\backup

To copy all files in current folder to another folder

Use of environment variables

We can use environment variables in the copy command to specify the path of the folders. Like USERPROFILE, SystemRoot, ProgramFiles, TEMP, WINDIR, APPDATA, HOMEPATH.

For example, to copy a file to a user’s documents folder

The above command copies the file to the My Documents folder of the current logged in user.

You may also want to read

Windows «copy» is funny. Type «copy 1 2» and the file «1» will be copied into a new file «2». Now separate them by a plus sign instead of a space (copy 1+2) and you’ll concatenate 1 and 2 and replace the old file «1» with the result of the concatenation!

Yes, we can concatenate two or more files using copy command. You need to separate the list of files using +. You can redirect the resultant data to a new file also.

The above command will not alter the file 1. It creates a new file 3 with the concatenated data of 1 & 2. If no file name is provided it stores the result in the first file.

My Win7 cannot find a copy command, and when i run xcopy, a window flashes and exits.

I have the same problem. If you solved it, could you please explain how?

If you can not find your copy.exe file, you can download it to your windows directory or C:\ Directory depending the setting on your OS you should also be able to copy and run it from system32 or system folder.

how can i combine 2 .exe files and be able to use both after concatenation

I want to copy 2 different files(.exe,.config) from source to destination server of windows.
can you please help me on this command.

Hello i have a problem with my cmd windows 7.when i try to copy a command. Like help > file.pdf. i mean in extension pdf because i have this problem only with .pdf extension but not with .txt.So whe i execute the command. No problem. Then when i go to open the file.pdf ftom user destination the file.pdf doesn’t open say that is corrupted.please do help me .thanks

i have a file contain many lines as sources and another file has the same numbre of lines as destinations. i want to copy first line as source( c:/test/*.txt) to first line in destination ( d:/test2/), secend line ( c:/test/*.pdf) to second line in destination ( E:/test3/)……

Can I use the DOS/Windows “COPY” command in a BAT file to copy a file or a short string of text to computer memory and then paste (Ctrl +V) that string or file into a document?

Find and copy files windows

Copies one or more files from one location to another.

You can also use the copy command, with different parameters, from the Recovery Console. For more information about the recovery console, see Windows Recovery Environment (Windows RE).

Syntax

Parameters

Parameter	Description
/d	Allows the encrypted files being copied to be saved as decrypted files at the destination.
/v	Verifies that new files are written correctly.
/n	Uses a short file name, if available, when copying a file with a name longer than eight characters, or with a file name extension longer than three characters.
/y	Suppresses prompting to confirm that you want to overwrite an existing destination file.
/-y	Prompts you to confirm that you want to overwrite an existing destination file.
/z	Copies networked files in restartable mode.
/a	Indicates an ASCII text file.
/b	Indicates a binary file.
Required. Specifies the location from which you want to copy a file or set of files. Source can consist of a drive letter and colon, a directory name, a file name, or a combination of these.
Required. Specifies the location to which you want to copy a file or set of files. Destination can consist of a drive letter and colon, a directory name, a file name, or a combination of these.
/?	Displays help at the command prompt.

Remarks

You can copy an ASCII text file that uses an end-of-file character (CTRL+Z) to indicate the end of the file.

If /a precedes or follows a list of files on the command line, it applies to all files listed until copy encounters /b. In this case, /b applies to the file preceding /b.

The effect of /a depends on its position in the command-line string: — If /a follows source, the copy command treats the file as an ASCII file and copies data that precedes the first end-of-file character (CTRL+Z). — If /a follows destination, the copy command adds an end-of-file character (CTRL+Z) as the last character of the file.

If /b directs the command interpreter to read the number of bytes specified by the file size in the directory. /b is the default value for copy, unless copy combines files.

If /b precedes or follows a list of files on the command line, it applies to all listed files until copy encounters /a. In this case, /a applies to the file preceding /a.

The effect of /b depends on its position in the command–line string: — If /b follows source, the copy command copies the entire file, including any end-of-file character (CTRL+Z). — If /b follows destination, the copy command doesn’t add an end-of-file character (CTRL+Z).

If a write operation cannot be verified, an error message appears. Although recording errors rarely occur with the copy command , you can use /v to verify that critical data has been correctly recorded. The /v command-line option also slows down the copy command, because each sector recorded on the disk must be checked.

If /y is preset in the COPYCMD environment variable, you can override this setting by using /-y at the command line. By default, you are prompted when you replace this setting, unless the copy command is executed in a batch script.

To append files, specify a single file for destination, but multiple files for source (use wildcard characters or file1+file2+file3 format).

If the connection is lost during the copy phase (for example, if the server going offline breaks the connection), you can use copy /z to resume after the connection is re-established. The /z option also displays the percentage of the copy operation that is completed for each file.

You can substitute a device name for one or more occurrences of source or destination.

If destination is a device (for example, Com1 or Lpt1), the /b option copies data to the device in binary mode. In binary mode, copy /b copies all characters (including special characters such as CTRL+C, CTRL+S, CTRL+Z, and ENTER) to the device, as data. However, if you omit /b, the data is copied to the device in ASCII mode. In ASCII mode, special characters might cause files to combine during the copying process.

If you don’t specify a destination file, a copy is created with the same name, modified date, and modified time as the original file. The new copy is stored in the current directory on the current drive. If the source file is on the current drive and in the current directory and you do not specify a different drive or directory for the destination file, the copy command stops and displays the following error message:

If you specify more than one file in source, the copy command combines them all into a single file using the file name specified in destination. The copy command assumes the combined files are ASCII files unless you use the /b option.

To copy files that are 0 bytes long, or to copy all of a directory’s files and subdirectories, use the xcopy command.

To assign the current time and date to a file without modifying the file, use the following syntax:

Where the commas indicate that the destination parameter has been intentionally left out.

Examples

To copy a file called memo.doc to letter.doc in the current drive and ensure that an end-of-file character (CTRL+Z) is at the end of the copied file, type:

To copy a file named robin.typ from the current drive and directory to an existing directory named Birds that is located on drive C, type:

If the Birds directory doesn’t exist, the file robin.typ is copied into a file named Birds that is located in the root directory on the disk in drive C.

To combine Mar89.rpt, Apr89.rpt, and May89.rpt, which are located in the current directory, and place them in a file named Report (also in the current directory), type:

If you combine files, the copy command marks the destination file with the current date and time. If you omit destination, the files are combined and stored under the name of the first file in the list.

To combine all files in Report, when a file named Report already exists, type:

To combine all files in the current directory that have the .txt file name extension into a single file named Combined.doc, type:

To combine several binary files into one file by using wildcard characters, include /b. This prevents Windows from treating CTRL+Z as an end-of-file character. For example, type:

If you combine binary files, the resulting file might be unusable due to internal formatting.

How to copy files

To copy computer documents, pictures, or other files from one place to another, follow these instructions.

When copying files, you are going to get more than one copy of the file on your computer. If you want only one copy of the files, move them instead. For help with moving, see: How to move files and folders on the computer.

A file name must be unique, if it’s not, a number will be appended to the end of a file name. It may also have «- Copy» appended to the end of the file name, instead of a number. Appending a number to the end of the copied file’s name assures the copied file is unique. For example, if the original file name is abc123.pdf and a copy is created in the same directory or folder, the copied file name could be abc123(1).pdf or abc123 — Copy.pdf.

Select your operating system to view the instructions that apply to you.

How to copy a file in Microsoft Windows

Below are the steps on how to copy a file or multiple files in Microsoft Windows from one location to another.

1. Go to the files or folders you want to copy. If you need help locating the files, use the Windows find feature.
2. Highlight the file or files you want to copy by clicking them once with the mouse. If you need to highlight more than one file, you can hold down the Ctrl or Shift keys on your keyboard or drag a box around the files you want to copy.
3. Once highlighted, right-click one of the highlighted files and select copy. Users may also press the Ctrl + Cshortcut key, or in Windows Explorer, click Edit at the top of the window and choose Copy.
4. Open the destination folder, right-click an empty space in the folder, and choose paste. Or, in the menu bar at the top, click File, choose Edit, then choose Paste.

• How to select or highlight multiple files and folders.

If you want to copy only a certain type of file, you can click the Type column in Windows Explorer. This action sorts files by type, rather than by name. Once grouped by type, you can select only the files with the type you want to copy, and copy those files.

You can also use the Windows command line to copy files. In some situations, such as copying multiple files of a certain extension or with a certain name, it can be easier.

How to copy a file in MS-DOS and the Windows command line

Below are steps on how to copy a single file from one directory to another directory.

Copying a single file

1. Using the cd command, move to the directory containing the file you want to copy.
2. Type a command similar to the following command.

In the example above, you would substitute «myfile.txt» with the name of the file you want to copy, and «c:\my\location» with the destination directory. To see files available in the current directory use the dir command.

Copying multiple files to another location

Below are the steps on how to copy multiple files from one directory to another directory.

1. Using the cd command, move to the directory containing the files you want to copy.
2. Once in the directory containing the files you want to copy, type a command similar to one of the following commands.

In the example above, the command would copy every file in the current directory to the «mydir» directory.

In the example above, the command would copy every txt, or text file, in the current directory into the «mydir» directory.

For additional examples of wildcard characters, see our wildcard definition.

If you need to copy files, directories, and subdirectories, use the xcopy command. In the example above, this xcopy command copies all directories (even empty directories) and files from the hope directory into the example directory.

Copying long file name files or files with spaces

Many times, you can encounter a file with spaces in the file name. To copy these files, surround the full file name and file extension in quotes.

In the example above, the «computer hope.txt» file is surrounded in quotes to let the command line know the complete file name, thus eliminating the spaces.

How to copy files to another drive

You can also copy files from the current location to any other drive. For example, if you have a USB flash drive that is drive letter F:, you can use the following command to copy all JPEG image files to the flash drive.

How to make a copy of a file into the same directory

In the example above, the file «example.txt» is copied into the same directory as «backup.txt,» effectively making a backup copy of the file.

Related pages and help

• See the cd command, dir command, copy command, and xcopy command pages for further information about each of these MS-DOS commands.
• How to use the Windows command line (DOS).

Batch file

To perform any copy command in a batch file, include any of the above Windows command line copy commands in a batch file.

How to copy files in Linux and Unix

Below are steps on how to copy a single file from one directory to another directory.

Copying a single file from one location to another

1. Using the cd command, move to the directory containing the file you want to copy.
2. Type a command similar to the following command.

In the example above, you would substitute «myfile.txt» with the name of the file you want to copy, and «/usr/bin» with the destination directory. To see files available in the current directory use the ls command.

Copying multiple files to another location

Below are the steps on how to copy multiple files from one directory to another directory.

1. Using the cd command, move to the directory containing the files you want to copy.
2. Once in the directory containing the files you want to copy, type a command similar to one of the following commands.

In the example above, the command would copy every file in the current directory to the «/usr/bin» directory.

In the example above, the command would copy every txt, or text file, in the current directory into the «/usr/bin» directory.

For additional examples of wildcard characters, see our wildcard definition.

Copying files with spaces in the file names

Many times you can encounter a file with spaces in the file name. To copy these files, surround the full file name and file extension in quotes.

In the example above, the «computer hope.txt» file is surrounded in quotes to let the command line know the complete file name. In our example, the destination file name contains whitespace (spaces), so the name is enclosed in quotes.

How to make a copy of a file into the same directory

In the example above, the file «example.txt» is copied into the same directory as «backup.txt,» effectively making a backup copy of the file.

Related pages and help

• See the cd command, cp command, and ls command pages for additional information about each of these commands.
• For general help using the Linux command line, see our Linux and Unix shell tutorial.

How to copy files in Apple macOS

Drag-and-drop

Highlight the files you want to copy. Then, click with your left mouse button and, while continuing to hold down the mouse button, drag-and-drop the files to where you want them. When you release the mouse button, the files are copied.

Keyboard shortcut

You can also copy files using keyboard shortcuts by following these steps.

1. Highlight the files you want to copy.
2. Press the keyboard shortcut Command + C .
3. Move to the location you want to move the files and press Command + V to copy the files.

Terminal

To copy files in a Terminal session, use the cp command.