Backup Robocopy

robocopy
Article
06/29/2021
8 minutes to read
16 contributors


Copies file data from one location to another.

Syntax

Copy
robocopy <source> <destination> [<file>[ ...]] [<options>]
For example, to copy a file named yearly-report.mov from c:\reports to a file share \\marketing\videos while enabling multi-threading for higher performance (with the /mt parameter) and the ability to restart the transfer in case it's interrupted (with the /z parameter), type:

dos

Copy
robocopy c:\reports '\\marketing\videos' yearly-report.mov /mt /z
Parameters
Parameter	Description
<source>	Specifies the path to the source directory.
<destination>	Specifies the path to the destination directory.
<file>	Specifies the file or files to be copied. Wildcard characters (* or ?) are supported. If you don't specify this parameter, *.* is used as the default value.
<options>	Specifies the options to use with the robocopy command, including copy, file, retry, logging, and job options.
Copy options
Option	Description
/s	Copies subdirectories. This option automatically excludes empty directories.
/e	Copies subdirectories. This option automatically includes empty directories.
/lev:<n>	Copies only the top n levels of the source directory tree.
/z	Copies files in restartable mode. In restartable mode, should a file copy be interrupted, Robocopy can pick up where it left off rather than re-copying the entire file.
/b	Copies files in backup mode. Backup mode allows Robocopy to override file and folder permission settings (ACLs). This allows you to copy files you might otherwise not have access to, assuming it's being run under an account with sufficient privileges.
/zb	Copies files in restartable mode. If file access is denied, switches to backup mode.
/j	Copies using unbuffered I/O (recommended for large files).
/efsraw	Copies all encrypted files in EFS RAW mode.
/copy:<copyflags>	Specifies which file properties to copy. The valid values for this option are:
D - Data
A - Attributes
T - Time stamps
S - NTFS access control list (ACL)
O - Owner information
U - Auditing information
The default value for this option is DAT (data, attributes, and time stamps).
/dcopy:<copyflags>	Specifies what to copy in directories. The valid values for this option are:
D - Data
A - Attributes
T - Time stamps
The default value for this option is DA (data and attributes).
/sec	Copies files with security (equivalent to /copy:DATS).
/copyall	Copies all file information (equivalent to /copy:DATSOU).
/nocopy	Copies no file information (useful with /purge).
/secfix	Fixes file security on all files, even skipped ones.
/timfix	Fixes file times on all files, even skipped ones.
/purge	Deletes destination files and directories that no longer exist in the source. Using this option with the /e option and a destination directory, allows the destination directory security settings to not be overwritten.
/mir	Mirrors a directory tree (equivalent to /e plus /purge). Using this option with the /e option and a destination directory, overwrites the destination directory security settings.
/mov	Moves files, and deletes them from the source after they are copied.
/move	Moves files and directories, and deletes them from the source after they are copied.
/a+:[RASHCNET]	Adds the specified attributes to copied files. The valid values for this option are:
R - Read only
A - Archive
S - System
H - Hidden
C - Compressed
N - Not content indexed
E - Encrypted
T - Temporary
/a-:[RASHCNET]	Removes the specified attributes from copied files. The valid values for this option are:
R - Read only
A - Archive
S - System
H - Hidden
C - Compressed
N - Not content indexed
E - Encrypted
T - Temporary
/create	Creates a directory tree and zero-length files only.
/fat	Creates destination files by using 8.3 character-length FAT file names only.
/256	Turns off support for paths longer than 256 characters.
/mon:<n>	Monitors the source, and runs again when more than n changes are detected.
/mot:<m>	Monitors the source, and runs again in m minutes, if changes are detected.
/MT[:n]	Creates multi-threaded copies with n threads. n must be an integer between 1 and 128. The default value for n is 8. For better performance, redirect your output using /log option.
The /mt parameter can't be used with the /ipg and /efsraw parameters.

/rh:hhmm-hhmm	Specifies run times when new copies may be started.
/pf	Checks run times on a per-file (not per-pass) basis.
/ipg:n	Specifies the inter-packet gap to free bandwidth on slow lines.
/sl	Don't follow symbolic links and instead create a copy of the link.
/nodcopy	Copies no directory info (the default /dcopy:DA is done).
/nooffload	Copies files without using the Windows Copy Offload mechanism.
/compress	Requests network compression during file transfer, if applicable.
 Important

When using the /secfix copy option, specify the type of security information you want to copy, using one of these additional copy options:

/copyall
/copy:o
/copy:s
/copy:u
/sec
File selection options
Option	Description
/a	Copies only files for which the Archive attribute is set.
/m	Copies only files for which the Archive attribute is set, and resets the Archive attribute.
/ia:[RASHCNETO]	Includes only files for which any of the specified attributes are set. The valid values for this option are:
R - Read only
A - Archive
S - System
H - Hidden
C - Compressed
N - Not content indexed
E - Encrypted
T - Temporary
O - Offline
/xa:[RASHCNETO]	Excludes files for which any of the specified attributes are set. The valid values for this option are:
R - Read only
A - Archive
S - System
H - Hidden
C - Compressed
N - Not content indexed
E - Encrypted
T - Temporary
O - Offline
/xf <filename>[ ...]	Excludes files that match the specified names or paths. Wildcard characters (* and ?) are supported.
/xd <directory>[ ...]	Excludes directories that match the specified names and paths.
/xc	Excludes changed files.
/xn	Excludes newer files.
/xo	Excludes older files.
/xx	Excludes extra files and directories.
/xl	Excludes "lonely" files and directories.
/im	Include modified files (differing change times).
/is	Includes the same files.
/it	Includes tweaked files.
/xc	Excludes existing files with the same timestamp, but different file sizes.
/xn	Excludes existing files newer than the copy in the source directory.
/xo	Excludes existing files older than the copy in the source directory.
/xx	Excludes extra files and directories present in the destination but not the source. Excluding extra files will not delete files from the destination.
/xl	Excludes "lonely" files and directories present in the source but not the destination. Excluding lonely files prevents any new files from being added to the destination.
/is	Includes the same files. Same files are identical in name, size, times, and all attributes.
/it	Includes "tweaked" files. Tweaked files have the same name, size, and times, but different attributes.
/max:<n>	Specifies the maximum file size (to exclude files bigger than n bytes).
/min:<n>	Specifies the minimum file size (to exclude files smaller than n bytes).
/maxage:<n>	Specifies the maximum file age (to exclude files older than n days or date).
/minage:<n>	Specifies the minimum file age (exclude files newer than n days or date).
/maxlad:<n>	Specifies the maximum last access date (excludes files unused since n).
/minlad:<n>	Specifies the minimum last access date (excludes files used since n) If n is less than 1900, n specifies the number of days. Otherwise, n specifies a date in the format YYYYMMDD.
/xj	Excludes junction points, which are normally included by default.
/fft	Assumes FAT file times (two-second precision).
/dst	Compensates for one-hour DST time differences.
/xjd	Excludes junction points for directories.
/xjf	Excludes junction points for files.
Retry options
Option	Description
/r:<n>	Specifies the number of retries on failed copies. The default value of n is 1,000,000 (one million retries).
/w:<n>	Specifies the wait time between retries, in seconds. The default value of n is 30 (wait time 30 seconds).
/reg	Saves the values specified in the /r and /w options as default settings in the registry.
/tbd	Specifies that the system will wait for share names to be defined (retry error 67).
Logging options
Option	Description
/l	Specifies that files are to be listed only (and not copied, deleted, or time stamped).
/x	Reports all extra files, not just those that are selected.
/v	Produces verbose output, and shows all skipped files.
/ts	Includes source file time stamps in the output.
/fp	Includes the full path names of the files in the output.
/bytes	Prints sizes, as bytes.
/ns	Specifies that file sizes are not to be logged.
/nc	Specifies that file classes are not to be logged.
/nfl	Specifies that file names are not to be logged.
/ndl	Specifies that directory names are not to be logged.
/np	Specifies that the progress of the copying operation (the number of files or directories copied so far) will not be displayed.
/eta	Shows the estimated time of arrival (ETA) of the copied files.
/log:<logfile>	Writes the status output to the log file (overwrites the existing log file).
/log+:<logfile>	Writes the status output to the log file (appends the output to the existing log file).
/unicode	Displays the status output as Unicode text.
/unilog:<logfile>	Writes the status output to the log file as Unicode text (overwrites the existing log file).
/unilog+:<logfile>	Writes the status output to the log file as Unicode text (appends the output to the existing log file).
/tee	Writes the status output to the console window, as well as to the log file.
/njh	Specifies that there is no job header.
/njs	Specifies that there is no job summary.
Job options
Option	Description
/job:<jobname>	Specifies that parameters are to be derived from the named job file.
/save:<jobname>	Specifies that parameters are to be saved to the named job file.
/quit	Quits after processing command line (to view parameters).
/nosd	Indicates that no source directory is specified.
/nodd	Indicates that no destination directory is specified.
/if	Includes the specified files.
Exit (return) codes
Value	Description
0	No files were copied. No failure was encountered. No files were mismatched. The files already exist in the destination directory; therefore, the copy operation was skipped.
1	All files were copied successfully.
2	There are some additional files in the destination directory that are not present in the source directory. No files were copied.
3	Some files were copied. Additional files were present. No failure was encountered.
5	Some files were copied. Some files were mismatched. No failure was encountered.
6	Additional files and mismatched files exist. No files were copied and no failures were encountered. This means that the files already exist in the destination directory.
7	Files were copied, a file mismatch was present, and additional files were present.
8	Several files did not copy.