The Ultimate Robocopy Cheat Sheet: Essential Commands for Everyday File Transfers

by

Whether you’re a system administrator, developer, or power user, having quick access to the most useful Robocopy commands can save hours of time and prevent costly mistakes. This comprehensive cheat sheet contains every essential Robocopy command you’ll need for daily file management tasks, organized by use case and difficulty level.

The Ultimate Robocopy Cheat Sheet: Essential Commands for Everyday File Transfers

Bookmark this page and keep it handy for instant reference whenever you need to perform reliable, efficient file transfers in Windows. Each command includes practical examples and explanations to help you understand not just what to type, but when and why to use each option.

Quick Reference: Basic Robocopy Syntax

robocopy [source] [destination] [file(s)] [options]

Essential Components:

  • Source: The folder you’re copying from
  • Destination: The folder you’re copying to
  • Files: Specific files to copy (optional, defaults to all files)
  • Options: Flags that control how the copy operation works

Basic Example:

robocopy "C:\MyFiles" "D:\Backup" /E /COPYALL

Most Common Robocopy Commands (Copy & Paste Ready)

1. Simple Folder Backup

# Copy all files and folders (including empty ones)
robocopy "C:\Source" "D:\Destination" /E

# Copy with all attributes and security settings
robocopy "C:\Source" "D:\Destination" /E /COPYALL

# Mirror source to destination (exact copy, deletes extra files)
robocopy "C:\Source" "D:\Destination" /MIR

2. Network File Transfers

# Basic network copy with resume capability
robocopy "C:\LocalFolder" "\\Server\SharedFolder" /E /Z /COPYALL

# Network copy with compression and multi-threading
robocopy "C:\LocalFolder" "\\Server\SharedFolder" /E /Z /COMPRESS /MT:8

# Reliable network sync with retry settings
robocopy "C:\LocalFolder" "\\Server\SharedFolder" /MIR /Z /R:5 /W:15

3. Fast Multi-Threaded Copying

# Use 8 threads for faster copying
robocopy "C:\Source" "D:\Destination" /E /MT:8

# Maximum speed for SSD to SSD transfers
robocopy "C:\Source" "D:\Destination" /E /MT:32 /J

# Optimized for many small files
robocopy "C:\Source" "D:\Destination" /E /MT:16 /COPYALL

4. Selective File Copying

# Copy only specific file types
robocopy "C:\Photos" "D:\Backup" *.jpg *.png *.gif /E

# Copy files modified in last 7 days
robocopy "C:\Documents" "D:\Recent" /E /MAXAGE:7

# Copy files larger than 1MB
robocopy "C:\Files" "D:\LargeFiles" /E /MIN:1048576

Essential Options Reference Guide

Directory Copy Options

OptionDescriptionExample Usage
/ECopy subdirectories, including empty onesrobocopy C:\Source D:\Dest /E
/SCopy subdirectories, excluding empty onesrobocopy C:\Source D:\Dest /S
/MIRMirror directory (copy + delete extra files)robocopy C:\Source D:\Dest /MIR
/PURGEDelete destination files not in sourcerobocopy C:\Source D:\Dest /E /PURGE

File Attribute Options

OptionDescriptionExample Usage
/COPYALLCopy all file information (DATSOU)robocopy C:\Source D:\Dest /E /COPYALL
/COPY:flagsSpecify what to copy (D=Data, A=Attributes, T=Timestamps, S=Security, O=Owner, U=Auditing)robocopy C:\Source D:\Dest /E /COPY:DAT
/SECCopy files with security (NTFS ACLs)robocopy C:\Source D:\Dest /E /SEC
/SECFIXFix file security on all filesrobocopy C:\Source D:\Dest /E /SECFIX

Performance Options

OptionDescriptionExample Usage
/MT:nMulti-threaded copying (1-128 threads)robocopy C:\Source D:\Dest /E /MT:8
/JUnbuffered I/O (faster for large files)robocopy C:\Source D:\Dest /E /J
/COMPRESSRequest network compressionrobocopy C:\Source \\Server\Share /E /COMPRESS
/IPG:nInter-packet gap (ms) for bandwidth throttlingrobocopy C:\Source D:\Dest /E /IPG:100

Task-Specific Command Collections

Daily Backup Commands

# Personal documents backup (safe, preserves everything)
robocopy "%USERPROFILE%\Documents" "D:\Backup\Documents" /MIR /COPYALL /R:3 /W:10

# Photos backup with date verification
robocopy "%USERPROFILE%\Pictures" "E:\PhotoBackup" /MIR /COPYALL /R:2 /W:5 /LOG:photo_backup.log

# Project files backup (excludes temp files)
robocopy "C:\Projects" "D:\ProjectBackup" /MIR /XD bin obj temp .git /XF *.tmp *.log

System Administration Commands

# User profile migration
robocopy "C:\Users\OldUser" "\\NewPC\C$\Users\NewUser" /E /COPYALL /XD "AppData\Local\Temp" /R:5 /W:10

# Server data synchronization
robocopy "\\Server1\Data" "\\Server2\Data" /MIR /COPYALL /SEC /R:10 /W:30 /LOG+:sync.log

# Software deployment
robocopy "\\DeployServer\Software" "C:\Temp\Install" /E /COPYALL /R:3 /W:5

Development and Testing Commands

# Source code backup (excludes build artifacts)
robocopy "C:\Code\MyProject" "D:\CodeBackup\MyProject" /MIR /XD bin obj .vs packages node_modules

# Database backup files
robocopy "C:\DatabaseBackups" "\\BackupServer\DBBackups" /E /MAXAGE:30 /MT:4 /LOG+:db_transfer.log

# Test data preparation
robocopy "\\TestDataServer\Datasets" "C:\TestData" /E /COPYALL /R:2 /W:5

Advanced Filtering Commands

Date-Based Filtering

# Files modified in last 30 days
robocopy "C:\Documents" "D:\Recent" /E /MAXAGE:30

# Files older than 1 year (for archiving)
robocopy "C:\OldFiles" "D:\Archive" /E /MINAGE:365

# Files not accessed in 90 days
robocopy "C:\Files" "D:\Unused" /E /MAXLAD:90

Size-Based Filtering

# Files between 1MB and 100MB
robocopy "C:\Files" "D:\MediumFiles" /E /MIN:1048576 /MAX:104857600

# Only large files (over 100MB)
robocopy "C:\Files" "D:\LargeFiles" /E /MIN:104857600

# Small files only (under 1MB)
robocopy "C:\Files" "D:\SmallFiles" /E /MAX:1048576

File Type Filtering

# Images only
robocopy "C:\AllFiles" "D:\Images" *.jpg *.jpeg *.png *.gif *.bmp *.tiff /E

# Documents only
robocopy "C:\AllFiles" "D:\Documents" *.doc *.docx *.pdf *.txt *.rtf /E

# Exclude temporary files
robocopy "C:\Source" "D:\Destination" /E /XF *.tmp *.temp *.log ~*.*

Logging and Monitoring Commands

Basic Logging

# Simple log file
robocopy "C:\Source" "D:\Dest" /E /LOG:copy.log

# Console output + log file
robocopy "C:\Source" "D:\Dest" /E /LOG:copy.log /TEE

# Append to existing log
robocopy "C:\Source" "D:\Dest" /E /LOG+:copy.log

Detailed Monitoring

# Comprehensive logging
robocopy "C:\Source" "D:\Dest" /E /LOG:detailed.log /V /TS /FP /BYTES

# Progress monitoring (minimal screen output)
robocopy "C:\Source" "D:\Dest" /E /NP /NFL /NDL

# Error-only logging
robocopy "C:\Source" "D:\Dest" /E /LOG:errors.log /NFL /NDL /BYTES

Log Analysis Commands

# Test run (show what would be copied)
robocopy "C:\Source" "D:\Dest" /E /L

# Statistics only
robocopy "C:\Source" "D:\Dest" /E /L /NJH /NJS /NP /NFL /NDL

# Differences between folders
robocopy "C:\Folder1" "C:\Folder2" /E /L /NJH /NJS

Error Handling and Retry Commands

Retry Configuration

# 5 retries with 10-second waits
robocopy "C:\Source" "D:\Dest" /E /R:5 /W:10

# No retries (fail fast)
robocopy "C:\Source" "D:\Dest" /E /R:0

# Save retry settings as default
robocopy "C:\Source" "D:\Dest" /E /R:3 /W:5 /REG

Network Resilience

# Restartable mode for network transfers
robocopy "C:\Local" "\\Server\Share" /E /Z /R:10 /W:30

# Network with compression and restartable mode  
robocopy "C:\Local" "\\Server\Share" /E /Z /COMPRESS /R:5 /W:15

# Backup mode for permission issues
robocopy "C:\Source" "D:\Dest" /E /B /COPYALL

Specialized Use Case Commands

Mirror Synchronization

# Perfect mirror (dangerous - deletes files!)
robocopy "C:\Master" "D:\Mirror" /MIR /COPYALL

# Safe mirror with confirmation
robocopy "C:\Master" "D:\Mirror" /MIR /COPYALL /L
# (Review output, then remove /L to execute)

# Mirror with exclusions
robocopy "C:\Master" "D:\Mirror" /MIR /XD temp cache .git /XF *.tmp

Incremental Backups

# Copy only changed files
robocopy "C:\Data" "D:\Backup" /E /XO /COPYALL

# Archive bit-based incremental
robocopy "C:\Data" "D:\Backup" /E /M /COPYALL

# Date-based incremental (last 24 hours)
robocopy "C:\Data" "D:\Backup" /E /MAXAGE:1 /COPYALL

Monitoring and Automation

# Monitor source and copy changes (runs continuously)
robocopy "C:\Source" "D:\Dest" /E /MON:1 /MOT:60

# One-time monitoring check
robocopy "C:\Source" "D:\Dest" /E /MON:1

# Scheduled synchronization
robocopy "C:\Source" "D:\Dest" /MIR /MOT:1800

Performance Optimization Commands

Speed Optimization

# Maximum speed for local transfers
robocopy "C:\Source" "D:\Dest" /E /MT:32 /J /NP

# Optimized for many small files
robocopy "C:\Source" "D:\Dest" /E /MT:16 /NP /NFL

# Large file optimization
robocopy "C:\Source" "D:\Dest" /E /J /NP /BYTES

Network Optimization

# Bandwidth throttling (100ms between packets)
robocopy "C:\Source" "\\Server\Share" /E /IPG:100

# Compressed network transfer
robocopy "C:\Source" "\\Server\Share" /E /COMPRESS /MT:4

# Low-bandwidth network transfer
robocopy "C:\Source" "\\Server\Share" /E /IPG:500 /R:10 /W:60

Resource Management

# Low CPU usage
robocopy "C:\Source" "D:\Dest" /E /MT:2

# Minimal memory usage
robocopy "C:\Source" "D:\Dest" /E /NP /NFL /NDL

# Background processing (low priority)
robocopy "C:\Source" "D:\Dest" /E /MT:4 /LOW

Batch Script Integration

Basic Batch File Template

@echo off
echo Starting Robocopy operation...

set SOURCE=C:\SourceFolder
set DEST=D:\DestinationFolder
set LOGFILE=C:\Logs\robocopy_%date:~-4,4%%date:~-10,2%%date:~-7,2%.log

robocopy "%SOURCE%" "%DEST%" /MIR /COPYALL /R:3 /W:10 /LOG:"%LOGFILE%" /TEE

if %ERRORLEVEL% LEQ 1 (
    echo Operation completed successfully
) else if %ERRORLEVEL% LEQ 3 (
    echo Operation completed with minor issues
) else (
    echo Operation failed - check log file: %LOGFILE%
)

pause

Advanced Error Handling

@echo off
setlocal EnableDelayedExpansion

set SOURCE=%1
set DEST=%2
if "%SOURCE%"=="" set SOURCE=C:\DefaultSource
if "%DEST%"=="" set DEST=D:\DefaultDest

echo Copying from %SOURCE% to %DEST%

robocopy "%SOURCE%" "%DEST%" /MIR /COPYALL /R:3 /W:10 /LOG:copy.log /TEE

set RESULT=%ERRORLEVEL%
if !RESULT! EQU 0 echo No files copied
if !RESULT! EQU 1 echo Files copied successfully
if !RESULT! EQU 2 echo Extra files found
if !RESULT! EQU 4 echo Mismatched files found
if !RESULT! EQU 8 echo Failed copies occurred
if !RESULT! GEQ 16 echo Fatal error occurred

endlocal

PowerShell Integration

Basic PowerShell Wrapper

# PowerShell function for common Robocopy operations
function Invoke-RobocopyBackup {
    param(
        [string]$Source,
        [string]$Destination,
        [string]$LogPath = "C:\Logs\robocopy-$(Get-Date -Format 'yyyyMMdd-HHmmss').log"
    )
    
    $Arguments = @(
        $Source,
        $Destination,
        "/MIR",
        "/COPYALL",
        "/R:3",
        "/W:10",
        "/LOG:$LogPath",
        "/TEE"
    )
    
    Start-Process -FilePath "robocopy" -ArgumentList $Arguments -Wait -NoNewWindow
}

# Usage
Invoke-RobocopyBackup -Source "C:\Documents" -Destination "D:\Backup"

Scheduled Task Integration

# Create scheduled task for daily backup
$Action = New-ScheduledTaskAction -Execute "robocopy" -Argument '"C:\Data" "D:\Backup" /MIR /COPYALL /LOG+:C:\Logs\daily_backup.log'
$Trigger = New-ScheduledTaskTrigger -Daily -At "2:00AM"
$Settings = New-ScheduledTaskSettingsSet -AllowStartIfOnBatteries -DontStopIfGoingOnBatteries

Register-ScheduledTask -TaskName "Daily Data Backup" -Action $Action -Trigger $Trigger -Settings $Settings

Common Error Solutions

Access Denied Errors

# Use backup mode
robocopy "C:\Source" "D:\Dest" /E /B /COPYALL

# Skip files with permission issues
robocopy "C:\Source" "D:\Dest" /E /COPYALL /R:0

# Copy without security information
robocopy "C:\Source" "D:\Dest" /E /COPY:DAT

Network Path Issues

# Use IP address instead of computer name
robocopy "C:\Local" "\\192.168.1.100\Share" /E /Z

# Map network drive first
net use Z: \\Server\Share
robocopy "C:\Local" "Z:\Folder" /E /COPYALL

Long Path Names

# Enable long path support (Windows 10/11)
robocopy "\\?\C:\VeryLongPath" "\\?\D:\Destination" /E

# Use shorter destination paths
robocopy "C:\Source" "D:\S" /E

Quick Exit Code Reference

Exit CodeMeaningAction Required
0No files copiedNormal – no changes needed
1Files copied successfullySuccess
2Extra files foundReview if using /MIR
3Files copied + extras foundUsually success
4Mismatched filesCheck source/destination
5Files copied + mismatchedReview differences
6Extra + mismatched filesReview operation
7Files copied + extra + mismatchedCheck results
8+Failed copies occurredCheck logs for errors

Best Practices Checklist

Before Running Robocopy

  • [ ] Test with /L option first (dry run)
  • [ ] Check available disk space at destination
  • [ ] Verify source and destination paths exist
  • [ ] Consider using /MIR carefully (it deletes files)
  • [ ] Plan for appropriate retry settings

During Operation

  • [ ] Monitor progress and error messages
  • [ ] Watch system resources (CPU, memory, disk)
  • [ ] Be prepared to stop if issues arise
  • [ ] Keep log files for review

After Operation

  • [ ] Review exit codes and log files
  • [ ] Verify critical files were copied correctly
  • [ ] Check for any error patterns
  • [ ] Update scripts based on lessons learned

Emergency Commands

Stop Runaway Robocopy

# Find Robocopy processes
tasklist | findstr robocopy

# Kill specific Robocopy process
taskkill /PID [process_id] /F

# Kill all Robocopy processes
taskkill /IM robocopy.exe /F

Quick Disaster Recovery

# Emergency backup of critical files
robocopy "C:\Critical" "D:\Emergency" /E /COPYALL /R:1 /W:1 /MT:8

# Rapid file restoration
robocopy "D:\Backup" "C:\Restore" /E /COPYALL /R:0 /MT:16

# Quick file verification
robocopy "C:\Original" "D:\Copy" /E /L /NJH /NJS

Conclusion

This cheat sheet covers the essential Robocopy commands you’ll need for 95% of your file transfer tasks. Bookmark this page and refer to it whenever you need to perform reliable, efficient file operations in Windows.

Remember to always test your commands with the /L option first, especially when using /MIR or /PURGE. Start with basic commands and gradually incorporate advanced options as you become more comfortable with Robocopy’s capabilities.

For the latest updates and additional examples, keep this reference handy and don’t hesitate to experiment with different option combinations to find what works best for your specific use cases.

Start Again
FacebookTwitterEmailShare

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.