Robocopy Switches

Question

Robocopy Switches

Norman Martens 0

I create a folder on an external hard drive called “E Drive”. Here’s what the attrib command shows:

F:>attrib /d

F:#Log

SH F:$RECYCLE.BIN

F:\E Drive

SH F:\System Volume Information

Now I run the following Robocopy command:

robocopy E: "F:\E Drive" /XD "E:$Recycle.bin" /MIR /MT:64 /W:5 /TEE /LOG:F:#Log\EDrive.txt

Here’s what the attrib command now shows:

F:>attrib /d

F:#Log

SH F:$RECYCLE.BIN

SH F:\E Drive

SH F:\System Volume Information

Notice the “E Drive” folder is now a hidden system folder. And when I view this drive with Explorer the “E Drive” folder does not show up.

How do I prevent Robocopy from doing this? I must be missing something simple.

Also, a side note. I tried to assign one of the built-in tags. I clicked on the one I wanted but it wouldn't accept it. I had to use the 'manual' method.

Thanks

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5 answers

Your answer

Answer 1

Carl-L 14,595 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Hello Norman Martens,,

The keys /MT means that Robocopy will use multiple worker threads. All queued is proceed in the same time and whichever finishes first get the logs first. That is why the report look out of order.

I hope this clarifies.

Carl-L 14,595 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-05-26T13:12:08.54+00:00

Hello Norman Martens,

Just checking in to make sure that you have received my reply. Please let me know if you have any updates.

Answer 2

One final question and it might not even be related to RoboCopy but some other systemic issue. How does RoboCopy decide on the sequence when it copies files from source to destination?

One final question about RoboCopy. And it might not even be unique to RoboCopy but a systemic issue. It deals with the sequence in which RoboCopy copies files.

Here's the first few lines of a recent log file. I included the very top lines so that you can see precisely what switches I supplied to RoboCopy:

ROBOCOPY :: Robust File Copy for Windows

Started : May 21, 2026 6:10:04 PM

Source : E:\

 Dest : F:\E Drive\

Files : *.*

Exc Dirs : E:$Recycle.bin

Options : . /TEE /S /E /DCOPY:DA /COPY:DAT /PURGE /MIR /A-:SH /MT:64 /R:1000000 /W:5

    New File  		   16154	E:\4 Auto\NHTSA Vin Decoder.xlsx

100%

    New File  		   24064	E:\80 Tax Returns\FTB Mailing Label.doc

100%

    New File  		   14076	E:\80 Tax Returns\Tell State to Stop Charging for e-filing.docx

100%

    New File  		   27648	E:\#1A Monthly-Current\2 Financial\#Stock Histories.xls

100%

    New File  		   60524	E:\4 Auto\0 Performance\#Template.xlsm

100%

    New File  		   91384	E:\4 Auto\0 Performance\20 Honda Accord.xlsm

0%

100%

    New File  		  334848	E:\4 Auto\0 Performance\z05 Honda Accord Pearl.xls

100%

You can see it copies something from E:\4 Auto followed by E:\80 Tax Returns then returns to E:4\Auto. I didn't see any switch options that would allow RoboCopy to control the sequence of copying the files. Then again, there are soooooo many switches I may have overlooked one.

Thanks.

Answer 3

Norman Martens 0

Thank you both. My results.

First, \DCOPY did not work. Got the same results. But, after digging through multiple pages on the web I did discover this little tidbit: \A-:SH. AI did not show me this solution. AI's solution was to add an attrib line to my batch file.

Here's the new command:

robocopy E:\ "F:\E Drive" /XD "E:$Recycle.bin" /A-:SH /MIR /MT:64 /W:5 /TEE /LOG:F:#Log\EDrive.txt

However, I now have a slightly different issue. When I run this exact command (by copying and pasting it into a cmd window) it works fine. But, if I execute the same command from a .bat file, a cmd window pops ups too fast for me to even see it but it does nothing. Is there another switch what will make robocopy stop and leave the cmd window visible because I'm sure there's an error message on it. I found this command in the batch file should keep the cmd window open:

cmd /K robocopy E:\ "F:\E Drive" /XD "E:$Recycle.bin" /A-:SH /MIR /MT:64 /W:5 /TEE /LOG:F:#Log\EDrive.txt

but it doesn't. Could it have something to do with administrator rights? When I open my cmd window manually I simply type cmd in the search box. Nor do I press Ctrl + Shift + Enter to launch it. And my registry (Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\AppCompatFlags\Layers) has nothing either. So it appears I'm running the command manually without any special rights. But I'm not sure about the batch file because I can't see the cmd screen.

Thanks.

Carl-L 14,595 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-05-12T13:14:31.86+00:00

Hello Norman Martens,

I'll see what I can do. I'll keep you updated.
Carl-L 14,595 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-05-13T13:26:38.4266667+00:00

Hello Norman Martens,

May I have the details of the batch file to check for you? As I know, you don't have to have a robocopy switch to keep the window open.
Carl-L 14,595 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-05-14T13:14:04.3666667+00:00

Hello Norman Martens,

Just checking in to make sure that you have received my reply. Please let me know if there are any updates.
Carl-L 14,595 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-05-16T10:14:59.98+00:00

Hello Norman Martens,

It's been a while since I last heard from you. May I know if you still need assistance in this?

Any feedback is appreciated.
Norman Martens 0 Reputation points

2026-05-19T03:05:22.2733333+00:00

Sorry, got sidetracked. Yes, I still have the issue. What details do you need? Here's the contents:

Here's the contents of the bat file:

robocopy C:\Users<PII removed>\Documents G:\Users<PII removed>\Documents /XJ /XA:SH /MIR /MT:64 /TEE /R:1 /W:1 /LOG:G:#Logs\Users_Norman_Documents.txt

If I open a cmd window, copy and pasted this exact command, everything works fine. But, if I'm sittting on my desktop and double click the .bat file, that brief window pops up then immediately disappears before I can even see it.

When I run the command in the cmd window it copies enough files that it takes a few seconds to display them. So, even running it from windows should at least show me some activity.

I tried this inserting this in front of the command (ala AI suggestion) cmd /k. I've tried both upper and lower case to no avail.

I just want to see what that pop window is hiding from me.

Thanks.
Carl-L 14,595 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-05-20T13:55:35.8133333+00:00

Hello Norman Martens,

In this case. you can modify your .bat file to see if it shows you the error.

@echo on

cd

"The original command"

echo Error level: %errorlevel%

pause
Norman Martens 0 Reputation points

2026-05-20T19:30:19.8366667+00:00

I added the @ECHO ON but the screen still flashed too fast to read. Here's the new batch file:

@echo on

robocopy C:\Users<PII removed>\Documents G:\Users<PII removed>\Documents /XJ /XA:SH /MIR /MT:64 /TEE /R:1 /W:1 /LOG:G:#Logs\Users_<PII removed>_Documents.txt
Norman Martens 0 Reputation points

2026-05-20T20:08:36.49+00:00

Ok. Issue finally resolved. Notepad was totally messing with my head. I can't go into details because it would take a book and I don't think I could even document what I finally went through. It's been so long since I actually had to return to my old DOS days that I forgot a few commands. I finally got to see what the batch file was executing by opening a cmd window and running the batch file from there. I discovered the WRONG batch file was being executed. Once I corrected that, it now works just like it was designed, even from my windows desktop. Sometimes, it pays to return to the basics. LOL

Anyway, I appreciate the help provided by everyone. It was useful.

Thank you.
Carl-L 14,595 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-05-21T14:00:51.6866667+00:00

Hello Norman Martens,

Actually, you need to add the part after "the original command" in the batch file as well.

Anyway, it's good that you can resolve it now.

Feel free to let me know if you have any other questions.

Answer 4

Hello Norman Martens,

Welcome to Microsoft Q&A forum.

Before we proceed, may I know if you have used the AI assistant suggestions yet? That commands will clear the hidden attributes from the drive, so please do it first.

Based on the article about Robocopy, if data is copy from the root of the device, the destination will adopt the "hidden" and "system" attribute from it. In this case, can you please try to use this command instead?

robocopy E: "F:\E Drive" /XD "E:$Recycle.bin" /MIR /MT:64 /W:5 /TEE /LOG:F:#Log\EDrive.txt /DCOPY:T

I've tried to keep the change at minimal as possible in this. "/DCOPY:T" can prevent the "hidden" and "system" attributes to be adopted by the destination.

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Answer 5

AI answer

Robocopy is not directly changing the attributes of the folder because of the switches shown; instead, the result is that the destination folder ends up with the System and Hidden attributes set. Those attributes can be cleared after the copy, or the folder can be created/normalized before running Robocopy.

To fix the folder so it is visible again:

attrib -s -h "F:\E Drive"

This clears the System (-s) and Hidden (-h) attributes from the folder, making it visible in File Explorer again.

If this happens repeatedly after running the same Robocopy job, add a post-step to your script/batch file to reset the attributes each time:

robocopy E: "F:\E Drive" /XD "E:\$Recycle.bin" /MIR /MT:64 /W:5 /TEE /LOG:F:\#Log\EDrive.txt
attrib -s -h "F:\E Drive"

The attrib command is the supported way to manage these attributes on files and directories.

References:

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Robocopy Switches

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