rclone move

The space-saving command - moves files from source to destination, deleting them from source after successful transfer.

Action	move	copy	sync
Transfers files	✅	✅	✅
Deletes from source	✅ YES	❌ No	❌ No
Deletes extra at dest	❌ No	❌ No	✅ YES
Safe for beginners	⚠️	✅	⚠️
Frees source space	✅	❌	❌

Quick start

# Basic syntax
rclone move SOURCE DESTINATION

# Move local files to cloud
rclone move /local/folder remote:backup

# Move from cloud to local
rclone move remote:folder /local/storage

# Move between cloud providers
rclone move gdrive:old-stuff dropbox:archive

Usage

Dry Run First

# See what would be moved
rclone move /source remote:dest --dry-run -v

# Count files that would move
rclone move /source remote:dest --dry-run | wc -l

Verify Before Deleting

# Extra verification (slower but safer)
rclone move /source remote:dest \
  --checksum \
  --check-first

Leave Originals Temporarily

# Move but keep source for 7 days
rclone move /source remote:dest \
  --delete-after \
  --min-age 7d

Performance Tuning

# Optimize for large files
rclone move /source remote:dest \
  --transfers 4 \
  --checkers 8 \
  --drive-chunk-size 128M \
  --buffer-size 256M

Selective Moving

# Move only large files
rclone move /source remote:dest --min-size 100M

# Move specific extensions
rclone move /source remote:dest \
  --include "*.log" \
  --include "*.bak"

# Move with exclusions
rclone move /source remote:dest \
  --exclude "*.tmp" \
  --exclude ".git/**"

Bandwidth Control

# Limit transfer speed
rclone move /source remote:dest --bwlimit 1M

# Schedule-based limits
rclone move /source remote:dest \
  --bwlimit "09:00,100k 17:00,off"

Troubleshooting

Failures

If move fails partway:

# Files already copied won't be re-copied
# Just run the command again
rclone move /source remote:dest

# Or check what's left
rclone check /source remote:dest

"Can't move directory"

Some remotes don't support moving directories:

# Workaround: move contents
rclone move /source/folder/ remote:dest/folder/

# Note the trailing slashes!

Recovery options

If you need to recover files that were moved:

Move them back
```
rclone move remote:dest /source
```
Copy instead (keeps in both places)
```
rclone copy remote:dest /source
```
Check cloud trash (some providers have it)
Use versioning (if enabled on remote)

For more information, see the FAQ.

Remember: Move is irreversible for the source! Make sure you really want to delete the source files before using move.

For further information, check out the full documentation.

Move

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