[windows] copying all contents of folder to another folder using batch file?

I have a folder in C:\Folder1

I want to copy all the contents of Folder1 to another location, D:\Folder2

How do I do this using a batch file?

@echo off
::Ask
echo Your Source Path:
set INPUT1=
set /P INPUT1=Type input: %=%

echo Your Destination Path:
set INPUT2=
set /P INPUT2=Type input: %=%

xcopy %INPUT1% %INPUT2% /y /s

@echo off
:: variables
echo Backing up file
set /P source=Enter source folder:
set /P destination=Enter Destination folder:
set xcopy=xcopy /S/E/V/Q/F/H/I/N
%xcopy% %source% %destination%
echo files will be copy press enter to proceed
pause

xcopy.exe is the solution here. It's built into Windows.

xcopy /s c:\Folder1 d:\Folder2

You can find more options at http://www.computerhope.com/xcopyhlp.htm

RoboCopy did not work for me, and there are some good solutions here, but none explained the XCopy switches and what they do. Also you need quotes in case your path has spaces in it.

xcopy /i /e "C:\temp\folder 1" "C:\temp\folder 2"

Here is the documentation from Microsoft:

XCopy MS Documentation

/s: Specifies to include subdirectories. Excludes empty subdirectories
/e: Copies all subdirectories, even if they are empty
/i: specifies the destination is a folder (Otherwise it prompts you)

I have written a .bat file to copy and paste file to a temporary folder and make it zip and transfer into a smb mount point, Hope this would help,

    @echo off
    if not exist "C:\Temp Backup\" mkdir "C:\Temp Backup_%date:~-4,4%%date:~-10,2%%date:~-7,2%"
    if not exist "C:\Temp Backup_%date:~-4,4%%date:~-10,2%%date:~-7,2%\ZIP" mkdir "C:\Temp Backup_%date:~-4,4%%date:~-10,2%%date:~-7,2%\ZIP"
    if not exist "C:\Temp Backup_%date:~-4,4%%date:~-10,2%%date:~-7,2%\Logs" mkdir "C:\Temp Backup_%date:~-4,4%%date:~-10,2%%date:~-7,2%\Logs"
    xcopy /s/e/q "C:\Source" "C:\Temp Backup_%date:~-4,4%%date:~-10,2%%date:~-7,2%"
   Backup_%date:~-4,4%%date:~-10,2%%date:~-7,2%\Logs"
    "C:\Program Files (x86)\WinRAR\WinRAR.exe" a  "C:\Temp Backup_%date:~-4,4%%date:~-10,2%%date:~-7,2%\ZIP\ZIP_Backup_%date:~-4,4%_%date:~-10,2%_%date:~-7,2%.rar" "C:\Temp Backup_%date:~-4,4%%date:~-10,2%%date:~-7,2%\TELIUM"
    "C:\Program Files (x86)\WinRAR\WinRAR.exe" a  "C:\Temp Backup_%date:~-4,4%%date:~-10,2%%date:~-7,2%\ZIP\ZIP_Backup_Log_%date:~-4,4%_%date:~-10,2%_%date:~-7,2%.rar" "C:\Temp Backup_%date:~-4,4%%date:~-10,2%%date:~-7,2%\Logs"
    NET USE \\IP\IPC$ /u:IP\username password
    ROBOCOPY "C:\Temp Backup_%date:~-4,4%%date:~-10,2%%date:~-7,2%\ZIP"  "\\IP\Backup Folder" /z /MIR /unilog+:"C:\backup_log_%date:~-4,4%%date:~-10,2%%date:~-7,2%.log"
    NET USE \\172.20.10.103\IPC$ /D
    RMDIR /S /Q "C:\Temp Backup_%date:~-4,4%%date:~-10,2%%date:~-7,2%"

FYI...if you use TortoiseSVN and you want to create a simple batch file to xcopy (or directory mirror) entire repositories into a "safe" location on a periodic basis, then this is the specific code that you might want to use. It copies over the hidden directories/files, maintains read-only attributes, and all subdirectories and best of all, doesn't prompt for input. Just make sure that you assign folder1 (safe repo) and folder2 (usable repo) correctly.

@echo off
echo "Setting variables..."
set folder1="Z:\Path\To\Backup\Repo\Directory"
set folder2="\\Path\To\Usable\Repo\Directory"
echo "Removing sandbox version..."
IF EXIST %folder1% (
    rmdir %folder1% /s /q
)
echo "Copying official repository into backup location..."
xcopy /e /i /v /h /k %folder2% %folder1%

And, that's it folks!

Add to your scheduled tasks and never look back.

On my PC, xcopy and robocopy need also the path to them, i.e. C:\Windows\System32\xcopy.exe

That's why I use simply "copy": copy /y ....\Folder1\File.txt ....\Folder2\

Here's a solution with robocopy which copies the content of Folder1 into Folder2 going trough all subdirectories and automatically overwriting the files with the same name:

robocopy C:\Folder1 C:\Folder2 /COPYALL /E /IS /IT

Here:

/COPYALL copies all file information
/E copies subdirectories including empty directories
/IS includes the same files
/IT includes modified files with the same name

For more parameters see the official documentation: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/administration/windows-commands/robocopy

Note: it can be necessary to run the command as administrator, because of the argument /COPYALL. If you can't: just get rid of it.

I see a lot of answers suggesting the use of xcopy. But this is unnecessary. As the question clearly mentions that the author wants THE CONTENT IN THE FOLDER not the folder itself to be copied in this case we can -:

copy "C:\Folder1" *.*  "D:\Folder2"

Thats all xcopy can be used for if any subdirectory exists in C:\Folder1

if you want remove the message that tells if the destination is a file or folder you just add a slash:

xcopy /s c:\Folder1 d:\Folder2\

If you have robocopy,

robocopy C:\Folder1 D:\Folder2 /COPYALL /E

otherwise,

xcopy /e /v C:\Folder1 D:\Folder2

@echo off
xcopy /s C:\yourfile C:\anotherfile\

This is how it is done! Simple, right?