Specifies the file or files to be copied. You can use wildcard characters (* or ?), if you want. If the File parameter is not specified, *.* is used as the default value.
Specifies options to be used with the robocopy command.
Copy options
Option
Description
/s
Copies subdirectories. Note that this option excludes empty directories.
/e
Copies subdirectories. Note that this option includes empty directories. For additional information, see Remarks.
/lev:
Copies only the top N levels of the source directory tree.
/z
Copies files in restartable mode.
/b
Copies files in Backup mode.
/zb
Uses restartable mode. If access is denied, this option uses Backup mode.
/efsraw
Copies all encrypted files in EFS RAW mode.
/copy:
Specifies the file properties to be copied. The following are the valid values for this option: D Data A Attributes T Time stamps S NTFS access control list (ACL) O Owner information U Auditing information The default value for CopyFlags is DAT (data, attributes, and time stamps).
/dcopy:
Defines what to copy for directories. Default is DA. Options are D = data, A = attributes, and T = timestamps.
/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. For additional information, see Remarks.
/mir
Mirrors a directory tree (equivalent to /e plus /purge). For additional information, see Remarks.
/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.
/a-:[RASHCNET]
Removes the specified attributes from copied files.
/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 very long paths (longer than 256 characters).
/mon:
Monitors the source, and runs again when more than N changes are detected.
/mot:
Monitors 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. The /MT parameter cannot be used with the /IPG and /EFSRAW parameters. Redirect output using /LOG option for better performance. Note: The /MT parameter applies to Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7.
/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.
Important
When using the /SECFIX copy option, specify the type of security information you want to copy by also 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.
/xa:[RASHCNETO]
Excludes files for which any of the specified attributes are set.
/xf [ …]
Excludes files that match the specified names or paths. Note that FileName can include wildcard characters (* and ?).
/xd [ …]
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.
/is
Includes the same files.
/it
Includes “tweaked” files.
/max:
Specifies the maximum file size (to exclude files bigger than N bytes).
/min:
Specifies the minimum file size (to exclude files smaller than N bytes).
/maxage:
Specifies the maximum file age (to exclude files older than N days or date).
/minage:
Specifies the minimum file age (exclude files newer than N days or date).
/maxlad:
Specifies the maximum last access date (excludes files unused since N).
/minlad:
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:
Specifies the number of retries on failed copies. The default value of N is 1,000,000 (one million retries).
/w:
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:
Writes the status output to the log file (overwrites the existing log file).
/log+:
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:
Writes the status output to the log file as Unicode text (overwrites the existing log file).
/unilog+:
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:
Specifies that parameters are to be derived from the named job file.
/save:
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.
Note
Any value greater than 8 indicates that there was at least one failure during the copy operation.
Remarks
The /mir option is equivalent to the /e plus /purge options with one small difference in behavior:
With the /e plus /purge options, if the destination directory exists, the destination directory security settings are not overwritten.
With the /mir option, if the destination directory exists, the destination directory security settings are overwritten.
