ROBOCOPY for Windows

ROBOCOPY is a command-line file replication utility. The name robocopy is a concatenation of “Robust Copy”, a fitting description, as it exceeds the capabilities of the built-in Windows copy and xcopy commands, and is designed to be very efficient at mirroring files and directories.

Syntax:

robocopy <Source> <Destination> [<File>[ ...]] [<Options>]

Robocopy Copy Options

/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).
/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).
/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.
/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.
/DCOPY:copyflag[s]	what to COPY for directories (default is /DCOPY:DA). (copyflags : D=Data, A=Attributes, T=Timestamps).
/NODCOPY	COPY NO directory info (by default /DCOPY:DA is done).
/NOOFFLOAD	copy files without using the Windows Copy Offload mechanism.

Note: Using /PURGE or /MIR on the root directory of the volume will cause robocopy to apply the requested operation on files inside the System Volume Information directory as well. If this is not intended then the /XD switch may be used to instruct robocopy to skip that directory.

File Selection Options

/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.
/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.

Robocopy Retry Switches

/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).

Robocopy Log Options

/L	List only – don’t copy, timestamp or delete any files.
/X	report all eXtra files, not just those selected.
/V	produce Verbose output, showing skipped files.
/TS	include source file Time Stamps 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.

Robocopy 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.