There are many ways to get a file from Point A to Point B on Windows. You can simply drag and drop with the GUI, use PowerShell and can also use a cmd command called robocopy.

While these are all good options, depending on the amount of data you need to transfer, using File Explorer, the process can take a long time. If you want to copy a lot of files faster and more reliably, you need a better solution, such as Robocopy.

The GUI is also fine if you’re only moving a few files, but for larger and more complex migrations, Robocopy is good way to go….

Robocopy (or Robust File Copy) for Windows is a useful utility built into Windows that allows you to efficiently copy or transfer one, 10 or 1,000,0000 files and folders all in one go. Not only can you copy/move files from one place to another, you can also sync folders destinations, too.

Robocopy command options explained

To get started with robocopy, open up a Windows command prompt or PowerShell and type robocopy /?. You are soon inundated with all of the options available:

Syntax
      ROBOCOPY Source_folder Destination_folder [files_to_copy] [options]

Key
   file(s)_to_copy : A list of files or a wildcard.
                          (defaults to copying *.*)

  Source options
                /S : Copy Subfolders.
                /E : Copy Subfolders, including Empty Subfolders.
 /COPY:copyflag[s] : What to COPY (default is /COPY:DAT)
                      (copyflags : D=Data, A=Attributes, T=Timestamps
                       S=Security=NTFS ACLs, O=Owner info, U=aUditing info)
                     File Data (D) always includes file Timestamps (T).
              /SEC : Copy files with SECurity (equivalent to /COPY:DATS).
          /DCOPY:T : Copy Directory Timestamps.
          /COPYALL : Copy ALL file info (equivalent to /COPY:DATSOU).
           /NOCOPY : Copy NO file info (useful with /PURGE).

                /A : Copy only files with the Archive attribute set.
                /M : like /A, but remove Archive attribute from source files.
            /LEV:n : Only copy the top n LEVels of the source tree.

         /MAXAGE:n : MAXimum file AGE - exclude files older than n days/date.
         /MINAGE:n : MINimum file AGE - exclude files newer than n days/date.
                     (If n < 1900 then n = no of days, else n = YYYYMMDD date).

              /FFT : Assume FAT File Times (2-second date/time granularity).
              /256 : Turn off very long path (> 256 characters) support.

  Copy options
                /L : List only - don’t copy, timestamp or delete any files.
              /MOV : MOVe files (delete from source after copying).
             /MOVE : Move files and dirs (delete from source after copying).
               /sl : Copy file symbolic links instead of the target [see notes below].
                /Z : Copy files in restartable mode (survive network glitch).
                /B : Copy files in Backup mode.
                /J : Copy using unbuffered I/O (recommended for large files). ##
        /NOOFFLOAD : Copy files without using the Windows Copy Offload mechanism. ##
               /ZB : Use restartable mode; if access denied use Backup mode.
           /EFSRAW : Copy any encrypted files using EFS RAW mode.

  Performance tweaks

            /IPG:n : Inter-Packet Gap (ms), to free bandwidth on slow lines.
           /MT[:n] : Multithreaded copying, n = no. of threads to use (1-128)
                     default = 8 threads, not compatible with /IPG and /EFSRAW
                     Redirecting output using /LOG is recommended for even better performance.

              /R:n : Number of Retries on failed copies - default is 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).

   Destination options

    /A+:[RASHCNET] : Set file Attribute(s) on destination files + add.
    /A-:[RASHCNET] : UnSet file Attribute(s) on destination files - remove.
              /FAT : Create destination files using 8.3 FAT file names only.

           /CREATE : CREATE directory tree structure + zero-length files only.
              /DST : Compensate for one-hour DST time differences.
            /PURGE : Delete dest files/folders that no longer exist in source.
              /MIR : MIRror a directory tree - equivalent to /PURGE plus all subfolders (/E)

   Logging options

                /L : List only - don’t copy, timestamp or delete any files.
               /NP : No Progress - don’t display % copied.
          /unicode : Display the status output as Unicode text.
         /LOG:file : Output status to LOG file (overwrite existing log).
      /UNILOG:file : Output status to Unicode Log file (overwrite)
        /LOG+:file : Output status to LOG file (append to existing log).
     /UNILOG+:file : Output status to Unicode Log file (append)
               /TS : Include Source file Time Stamps in the output.
               /FP : Include Full Pathname of files in the output.
               /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.
              /TEE : Output to console window, as well as the log file.
              /NJH : No Job Header.
              /NJS : No Job Summary.

 Repeated Copy Options
            /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 can be started.
               /PF : Check run hours on a Per File (not per pass) basis.

 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.

Advanced options

           /SECFIX : FIX file SECurity on all files, even skipped files.
                     When using /SECFIX, specify the type of security information you want to copy by
                     also using one of these options: /COPYALL  /COPY:O  /COPY:S  /COPY:U  /SEC

           /TIMFIX : FIX file TIMes on all files, even skipped files.
               /XO : eXclude Older - if destination file exists and is the same date
                     or newer than the source - don’t bother to overwrite it.
               /XC : eXclude Changed files
               /XN : eXclude Newer files
               /XL : eXclude "Lonely" files and dirs (present in source but not destination)
                     This will prevent any new files being added to the destination.
               /XX : eXclude "eXtra" files and dirs (present in destination but not source)
                     This will prevent any deletions from the destination. (this is the default)

/XF file [file]... : eXclude Files matching given names/paths/wildcards.
/XD dirs [dirs]... : eXclude Directories matching given names/paths.
                     XF and XD can be used in combination  e.g.
                     ROBOCOPY c:\source d:\dest /XF *.doc *.xls /XD c:\unwanted /S 

   /IA:[RASHCNETO] : Include files with any of the given Attributes.
   /XA:[RASHCNETO] : eXclude files with any of the given Attributes.
               /IS : Include Same, overwrite files even if they are already the same.
               /IT : Include Tweaked files.
               /XJ : eXclude Junction points from source. (included by default).
              /XJD : Exclude junction points from source directories.
              /XJF : Exclude junction points from source files.

            /MAX:n : MAXimum file size - exclude files bigger than n bytes.
            /MIN:n : MINimum file size - exclude files smaller than n bytes.
         /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).

            /BYTES : Print sizes as bytes.
                /X : Report all eXtra files, not just those selected & copied.
                /V : Produce Verbose output log, showing skipped files.
              /ETA : Show Estimated Time of Arrival of copied files.
            /DEBUG : Show debug volume information (undocumented)

Windows Robocopy Command with Examples To Copy Files In Safe Way

Robocopy has a lot of features that we can use to copy data faster, Below we’re using the most common options to make copy reliable and fast.

• /S — Copy sub directories, but not empty ones.
• /E — Copy Sub directories, including empty ones.
• /Z — Copy files in restart able mode.
• /ZB — Uses restart able mode, if access denied use backup mode.
• /R:5 — Retry 5 times (you can specify a different number, default is 1 million).
• /W:5 — Wait 5 seconds before retrying (you can specify a different number, the default is 30 seconds).
• /TBD — Wait for share names To Be Defined (retry error 67).
• /NP — No Progress – don’t display percentage copied.
• /V — Produce verbose output, showing skipped files.
• /MT:16 — Do multi threaded copies with n threads (By default is 8).

/MT, which is a feature that enables Robocopy to copy files in multithreaded mode, It means that Robocopy will try to copy eight files at the same time, but the tool supports 1 to 128 threads.

Example:

robocopy "source Path" "destination Path" /E /Z /ZB /R:5 /W:5 /TBD /NP /V /MT:16