How to Copy Files with Xcopy Command in Windows?

Xcopy is a command-line tool from the days of DOS (Disk Operating System), before the Windows operating system took off, It still works today, and is much quicker at copying a large number of files than clicking and dragging in Explorer.

Press Windows+R and type cmd to open a command prompt window, then type: xcopy /? to show the Help information.



 

It looks complicated, but the format is basically ‘xcopy source destination options’.

For example, to copy a folder from one place to another, such as to a USB drive, you would type:

[code]xcopy C:\MyFolder D:\AnotherFolder /S /Q[/code]

The source is C: \MyFolder and the destination is D:\AnotherFolder, where the USS drive is D:. The /S option copies all sub-folders (not just files) in C:\MyFolder, and the /Q means quiet, which speeds up the job by not displaying anything on the screen and just getting on with the work.

So, to copy your personal folder, music, documents, pictures and more to a USS drive, you would type:

[code]xcopy C:\Users\Yourname D:\YourName /S /Q /H /C[/code]

The /H means you want to also copy Hidden and system files, and /C means Continue, even if there is an error. A file that is in use cannot be copied (a sharing violation) but /C will ignore this and continue anyway.