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Bill McKay
Asked: 2009-08-12 14:29:12 +0800 CST

robocopy transfer file and not folder

  • 772

I'm trying to use robocopy to transfer a single file from one location to another but robocopy seems to think I'm always specifying a folder. Here is an example:

robocopy "c:\transfer_this.txt" "z:\transferred.txt"

But I get this error instead:

2009/08/11 15:21:57 ERROR 123 (0x0000007B) Accessing Source Directory c:\transfer_this.txt\

(note the \ at the end of transfer_this.txt)

But if I treat it like an entire folder:

robocopy "c:\folder" "z:\folder"

It works but then I have to transfer everything in the folder.

How can I only transfer a single file with robocopy?

file-transfer robocopy

4 Answers

  1. Best Answer

    See: Robocopy /?

    Usage : ROBOCOPY source destination [file [file]...] [options]

    robocopy c:\folder d:\folder transfer_this.txt
    • 169

  2. According to the Wikipedia article on Robocopy:

    Folder copier, not file copier

    Robocopy syntax is markedly different from standard copy commands, as it accepts only folder names as its source and destination arguments. File names and wild-card characters (such as *.*) are not valid source or destination arguments. Files may be selected or excluded using the optional filespec filtering argument. Filespecs can only refer to the filenames relative to the folders already selected for copying. Fully-qualified path names are not supported.

    For example, in order to copy the file foo.txt from directory c:\bar to c:\baz, one could use the following syntax:

    robocopy c:\bar c:\baz foo.txt

    • 22

  3. Try inserting a space before the destination, like this:

    robocopy "c:\transfer_this.txt" "z: \this.txt"

    notice the space after the destination "folder" z:.

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  4. robocopy Q:\ F:\Dopbox "Microsoft Office.zip" /MT:128

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