Copy-Item

Module:: Microsoft.PowerShell.Management

Copies an item from one location to another.

Syntax

Copy-Item
    [-Path] <String[]>
    [[-Destination] <String>]
    [-Container]
    [-Force]
    [-Filter <String>]
    [-Include <String[]>]
    [-Exclude <String[]>]
    [-Recurse]
    [-PassThru]
    [-Credential <PSCredential>]
    [-WhatIf]
    [-Confirm]
    [-UseTransaction]
    [-FromSession <PSSession>]
    [-ToSession <PSSession>]
    [<CommonParameters>]

Copy-Item
    -LiteralPath <String[]>
    [[-Destination] <String>]
    [-Container]
    [-Force]
    [-Filter <String>]
    [-Include <String[]>]
    [-Exclude <String[]>]
    [-Recurse]
    [-PassThru]
    [-Credential <PSCredential>]
    [-WhatIf]
    [-Confirm]
    [-UseTransaction]
    [-FromSession <PSSession>]
    [-ToSession <PSSession>]
    [<CommonParameters>]

Description

The Copy-Item cmdlet copies an item from one location to another location in the same namespace. For instance, it can copy a file to a folder, but it cannot copy a file to a certificate drive.

This cmdlet does not cut or delete the items being copied. The particular items that the cmdlet can copy depend on the Windows PowerShell provider that exposes the item. For instance, it can copy files and directories in a file system drive and registry keys and entries in the registry drive.

This cmdlet can copy and rename items in the same command. To rename an item, enter the new name in the value of the Destination parameter. To rename an item and not copy it, use the Rename-Item cmdlet.

Examples

Example 1: Copy a file to the specified directory

PS C:\> Copy-Item "C:\Wabash\Logfiles\mar1604.log.txt" -Destination "C:\Presentation"

This command copies the mar1604.log.txt file to the C:\Presentation directory. The command does not delete the original file.

Example 2: Copy the contents of a directory to another directory

PS C:\> Copy-Item "C:\Logfiles" -Destination "C:\Drawings" -Recurse

This command copies the entire contents of the Logfiles directory into the Drawings directory. If the LogFiles directory contains files in subdirectories, those subdirectories are copied with their file trees intact. The Container parameter is set to true by default. This preserves the directory structure.

Example 3: Copy the contents of a directory to another directory and create the destination directory if it does not exist

PS C:\> Copy-Item C:\Logfiles -Destination C:\Drawings\Logs -Recurse

This command copies the contents of the C:\Logfiles directory to the C:\Drawings\Logs directory. It creates the \Logs subdirectory if it does not already exist.

Example 4: Copy a file to the specified directory and rename the file

PS C:\> Copy-Item "\\Server01\Share\Get-Widget.ps1" -Destination "\\Server12\ScriptArchive\Get-Widget.ps1.txt"

This command uses the Copy-Item cmdlet to copy the Get-Widget.ps1 script from the \\Server01\Share directory to the \\Server12\ScriptArchive directory. As part of the copy operation, the command also changes the item name from Get-Widget.ps1 to Get-Widget.ps1.txt, so it can be attached to email messages.

Example 5: Copy a file to a remote computer

PS C:\> $Session = New-PSSession -ComputerName "Server01" -Credential "Contoso\PattiFul"

PS C:\> Copy-Item "D:\Folder001\test.log" -Destination "C:\Folder001_Copy\" -ToSession $Session