rclone copy

The safest rclone command, it only adds files (never deletes)

Scenario	Use `copy`	Use `sync`	Use `move`
Regular backups	✅	⚠️ Deletes extra files	❌
First-time transfer	✅	✅	⚠️ Removes source
Keep source files	✅	✅	❌
Mirror directories	❌	✅	❌
Free up space	❌	❌	✅

Quick start

# Basic syntax
rclone copy SOURCE DESTINATION

# Local to cloud
rclone copy /home/photos gdrive:photos-backup

# Cloud to local
rclone copy dropbox:documents /home/backup/

# Cloud to cloud
rclone copy gdrive:important s3:backup/

The contents of the source directory are copied into the destination directory, which is created if it does not exist. Files that already exist at the destination with the same size and modification time are skipped, and files that exist only at the destination are left alone.

Usage

Filtering Files

By Size

# Only large files
rclone copy /source remote:dest --min-size 100M

# Only small files
rclone copy /source remote:dest --max-size 10M

# Size range
rclone copy /source remote:dest \
  --min-size 1M \
  --max-size 100M

By Age

# Files from last week
rclone copy /source remote:dest --max-age 7d

# Files older than 30 days
rclone copy /source remote:dest --min-age 30d

# Specific date range
rclone copy /source remote:dest \
  --max-age 2023-01-01 \
  --min-age 2024-01-01

By Name Pattern

# Include patterns
rclone copy /source remote:dest \
  --include "*.jpg" \
  --include "*.png"

# Exclude patterns
rclone copy /source remote:dest \
  --exclude "*.tmp" \
  --exclude "~*"

# Complex filters from file
echo "- *.tmp" > filters.txt
echo "+ *.jpg" >> filters.txt
rclone copy /source remote:dest --filter-from filters.txt

Bandwidth Limiting

# Limit to 1MB/s
rclone copy /source remote:dest --bwlimit 1M

# Time-based limits
rclone copy /source remote:dest \
  --bwlimit "08:00,512k 18:00,10M 23:00,off"

Preserve Metadata

# Keep timestamps and permissions
rclone copy /source remote:dest \
  --metadata \
  --links \
  --times

Verification

# Verify after transfer
rclone copy /source remote:dest --checksum

# Extra paranoid mode
rclone copy /source remote:dest \
  --checksum \
  --check-first

Troubleshooting

"File already exists"

This is not a problem.

Copy skips existing identical files. Use --update to overwrite older files only.

Slow Transfers

# Increase parallelism
--transfers 32 --checkers 16

# For large files
--drive-chunk-size 128M

# For many small files
--fast-list

Running Out of Memory

# Reduce buffer size
--buffer-size 16M

# Fewer concurrent transfers
--transfers 4

Interrupted Transfers

Your past progress is saved, so just run the same command again. Rclone will skip already-copied files and resume where it left off.

Remember: When in doubt, use copy instead of sync! It's always safer to have extra files than to accidentally delete something important.

For tips, check the tips & tricks.

For the full guide on the copy command, head over to the official documentation.

Copy

On this page