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/

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 2024-01-01 \
  --min-age 2023-01-01

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.

Copy

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