Robocopy: How to move the content of a directory but KEEP the directory

Solution 1:

I have been trying to do the same from a network share.

SET MoveDirSource=\\Server\Folder
SET MoveDirDestination=Z:\Folder

Here are my findings and solution from tests on a Windows 7 machine.

Suggestion:

ROBOCOPY "%MoveDirSource%" "%MoveDirDestination%" /MOVE /E

Problem: Moves source folder.

Suggestion:

ROBOCOPY "%MoveDirSource%" "%MoveDirDestination%" /MOVE /E /XD "%MoveDirSource%"

Problem: Still moves source folder.

Suggestion:

ROBOCOPY "%MoveDirSource%" "%MoveDirDestination%" /MOV /E

Problem: Leaves empty folder structure behind in source folder.

Working solution:

MKDIR "%MoveDirDestination%"
FOR    %%i IN ("%MoveDirSource%\*") DO           MOVE /Y "%%i" "%MoveDirDestination%\%%~nxi"
FOR /D %%i IN ("%MoveDirSource%\*") DO ROBOCOPY /MOVE /E "%%i" "%MoveDirDestination%\%%~nxi"

First two lines move top level files, the third moves folders. Note the double %% is for usage in a batch file, pasting into a command line needs these changed to a single percentage mark.

~nxi in the destination is a FOR SUBSTITUTION VARIABLE ( See FOR /? ) where ~nxi represents the name and extension of the item currently being looped through.

Robocopy defaults to RETRY A MILLION times and WAIT 30 SECONDS between each try, so you may wish to add /R:1 /W:1 to the robocopy arguments.

Solution 2:

Have you tried the /MOV option?

           /MOV :: MOVe files (delete from source after copying).

F:>robocopy /?

ROBOCOPY :: Robust File Copy for Windows

Started : Fri Aug 06 11:51:26 2010

          Usage :: ROBOCOPY source destination [file [file]...] [options]

         source :: Source Directory (drive:\path or \\server\share\path).
    destination :: Destination Dir  (drive:\path or \\server\share\path).
           file :: File(s) to copy  (names/wildcards: default is "*.*").

::
:: Copy options :
::
             /S :: copy Subdirectories, but not empty ones.
             /E :: copy subdirectories, including Empty ones.
         /LEV:n :: only copy the top n LEVels of the source directory tree.

             /Z :: copy files in restartable mode.
             /B :: copy files in Backup mode.
            /ZB :: use restartable mode; if access denied use Backup mode.
        /EFSRAW :: copy all encrypted files in EFS RAW mode.

/COPY:copyflag[s] :: what to COPY for files (default is /COPY:DAT).
                   (copyflags : D=Data, A=Attributes, T=Timestamps).
                   (S=Security=NTFS ACLs, O=Owner info, U=aUditing info).

       /DCOPY:T :: COPY Directory Timestamps.

           /SEC :: copy files with SECurity (equivalent to /COPY:DATS).
       /COPYALL :: COPY ALL file info (equivalent to /COPY:DATSOU).
        /NOCOPY :: COPY NO file info (useful with /PURGE).

        /SECFIX :: FIX file SECurity on all files, even skipped files.
        /TIMFIX :: FIX file TIMes on all files, even skipped files.

         /PURGE :: delete dest files/dirs that no longer exist in source.
           /MIR :: MIRror a directory tree (equivalent to /E plus /PURGE).

           /MOV :: MOVe files (delete from source after copying).
          /MOVE :: MOVE files AND dirs (delete from source after copying).

 /A+:[RASHCNET] :: add the given Attributes to copied files.
 /A-:[RASHCNET] :: remove the given Attributes from copied files.

        /CREATE :: CREATE directory tree and zero-length files only.
           /FAT :: create destination files using 8.3 FAT file names only.
           /256 :: turn off very long path (> 256 characters) support.

         /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 may be started.
            /PF :: check run hours on a Per File (not per pass) basis.

         /IPG:n :: Inter-Packet Gap (ms), to free bandwidth on slow lines.

            /SL :: copy symbolic links versus the target.

        /MT[:n] :: Do multi-threaded copies with n threads (default 8).
                   n must be at least 1 and not greater than 128.
                   This option is incompatible with the /IPG and /EFSRAW options.
                   Redirect output using /LOG option for better performance.

::
:: File Selection Options :
::
             /A :: copy only files with the Archive attribute set.
             /M :: copy only files with the Archive attribute and reset it.
/IA:[RASHCNETO] :: Include only files with any of the given Attributes set.
/XA:[RASHCNETO] :: eXclude files with any of the given Attributes set.

/XF file [file]... :: eXclude Files matching given names/paths/wildcards.
/XD dirs [dirs]... :: eXclude Directories matching given names/paths.

            /XC :: eXclude Changed files.
            /XN :: eXclude Newer files.
            /XO :: eXclude Older files.
            /XX :: eXclude eXtra files and directories.
            /XL :: eXclude Lonely files and directories.
            /IS :: Include Same files.
            /IT :: Include Tweaked files.

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

      /MAXAGE:n :: MAXimum file AGE - exclude files older than n days/date.
      /MINAGE:n :: MINimum file AGE - exclude files newer than n days/date.
      /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).

            /XJ :: eXclude Junction points. (normally included by default).

           /FFT :: assume FAT File Times (2-second granularity).
           /DST :: compensate for one-hour DST time differences.

           /XJD :: eXclude Junction points for Directories.
           /XJF :: eXclude Junction points for Files.

::
:: Retry Options :
::
           /R:n :: number of Retries on failed copies: default 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).

::
:: Logging Options :
::
             /L :: List only - don't copy, timestamp or delete any files.
             /X :: report all eXtra files, not just those selected.
             /V :: produce Verbose output, showing skipped files.
            /TS :: include source file Time Stamps in the output.
            /FP :: include Full Pathname of files in the output.
         /BYTES :: Print sizes as bytes.

            /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.

            /NP :: No Progress - don't display percentage copied.
           /ETA :: show Estimated Time of Arrival of copied files.

      /LOG:file :: output status to LOG file (overwrite existing log).
     /LOG+:file :: output status to LOG file (append to existing log).

   /UNILOG:file :: output status to LOG file as UNICODE (overwrite existing log).
  /UNILOG+:file :: output status to LOG file as UNICODE (append to existing log).

           /TEE :: output to console window, as well as the log file.

           /NJH :: No Job Header.
           /NJS :: No Job Summary.

       /UNICODE :: output status as UNICODE.

::
:: 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.