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CopyFile[file1,file2]

copies from the local, remote or cloud file file1 to the local, remote or cloud file file2.

Details and Options
Details and Options Details and Options
Examples  
Basic Examples  
Scope  
Possible Issues  
See Also
Tech Notes
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CopyFile

CopyFile[file1,file2]

copies from the local, remote or cloud file file1 to the local, remote or cloud file file2.

Details and Options

  • CopyFile takes file specifications in the following forms:
  • "path"local file given by the specified relative or absolute path
    File["path"]local file specified by path
    RemoteFile[url]remote file specified by url
    URL["url"]web or other URL
    LocalObject[…]persistent local object
    CloudObject[…]cloud object
    ExternalStorageObject[…]external storage object (e.g. IPFS, Dropbox)
  • In CopyFile[src,dest] the source src can be specified by a URL with any of the following schemes:
  • http:HTTP protocol
    https:secure HTTP protocol
    ftp:file transfer protocol
    sftp:secure file transfer protocol
    scp:secure copy protocol
    file:local file
  • The destination dest can be specified by a URL with any of the following schemes:
  • sftp:remote file accessible through the SFTP protocol
    scp:remote file accessible through the SCP protocol
    file:local file
  • RemoteFile["url",Authentication->auth] can be used to specify authentication information for the secure file transfer and copy protocols.
  • CopyFile sets the modification date for file2 to be the same as for file1.
  • CopyFile returns the full name of the file it copies to and $Failed if it cannot copy.
  • When copying to a cloud object, CopyFile returns that CloudObject expression.
  • Cloud objects created by CopyFile are assigned the permissions specified by $Permissions.
  • CopyFile has the following option:
  • OverwriteTargetFalsewhether to overwrite if the target file already exists

Examples

open all close all

Basic Examples  (1)

The name of the file to copy:

Wolfram Language code: file = FileNameJoin[{$InstallationDirectory, "Documentation", "English", "System", "ExampleData", "coneflower.jpg"}]

Copy the file:

Wolfram Language code: CopyFile[file, FileNameJoin[{$TemporaryDirectory, "coneflower.jpg"}]]

Import the new file:

Wolfram Language code: Import[%]

Delete the file:

Wolfram Language code: DeleteFile[FileNameJoin[{$TemporaryDirectory, "coneflower.jpg"}]];

Scope  (7)

Copy a file from the local file system to the Wolfram Cloud:

Wolfram Language code: file = FileNameJoin[{$InstallationDirectory, "Documentation", "English", "System", "ExampleData", "coneflower.jpg"}];
Wolfram Language code: CopyFile[file, CloudObject["flower2"]]

Copy a cloud object to another location within the Wolfram Cloud:

Wolfram Language code: CopyFile[CloudObject["flower2"], CloudObject["flower3"]]

Copy a cloud object to the local file system:

Wolfram Language code: CopyFile[CloudObject["flower2"], "flower.jpg"]
Wolfram Language code: "/Users/wolfram/Desktop/flower.jpg"

Copy a file specified as a File object:

Wolfram Language code: file = FileNameJoin[{$InstallationDirectory, "Documentation", "English", "System", "ExampleData", "coneflower.jpg"}] cfile = FileNameJoin[{$TemporaryDirectory, "coneflower2.jpg"}];
Wolfram Language code: CopyFile[File[file], File[cfile]]
Wolfram Language code: DeleteFile[File[cfile]]

CopyFile can copy among local files, local objects, and cloud objects:

Wolfram Language code: file = FileNameJoin[{$InstallationDirectory, "Documentation", "English", "System", "ExampleData", "coneflower.jpg"}];
Wolfram Language code: CopyFile[file, LocalObject["flower"]]
Wolfram Language code: LocalObject["file:///Users/wolfram/Library/Wolfram/Objects/flower"]
Wolfram Language code: CopyFile[LocalObject["flower"], CloudObject["flower1"]]
Wolfram Language code: Import[%]

The source can be any form of web URL:

Wolfram Language code: CopyFile[URL["https://wolfram.com/"], FileNameJoin[{$TemporaryDirectory, "homepage.html"}]]

Copy a file to a remote machine using the scp secure protocol:

Wolfram Language code: CopyFile["/tmp/test.m", URL["sftp://host.example.com/tmp/test.m"]]

Copy a file from a remote machine using the scp secure protocol:

Wolfram Language code: CopyFile[URL["scp://host.example.com/tmp/test.m"], "/tmp/test.m"]

Copy a file to a remote machine using the sftp secure protocol:

Wolfram Language code: CopyFile["/tmp/test.m", URL["sftp://host.example.com/tmp/test.m"]]

Copy a file from a remote machine using the sftp secure protocol:

Wolfram Language code: CopyFile[URL["sftp://host.example.com/tmp/test.m"], "/tmp/test.m"]

Copy a file from a remote machine using a different user:

Wolfram Language code: CopyFile[URL["sftp://user@host.example.com/tmp/test.m"], "/tmp/test.m"]

Copy from an ExternalStorageObject to a local file:

Wolfram Language code: CopyFile[ExternalStorageObject["Qmd1HkTU55zaCDnX2wbnVoq15aPHdutn8c3epuJFAt4dgf", Association["ExternalStorageBase" -> "IPFS", "FileHash" -> "38cb6f3cd68c6c723591a8a385732560"]], "~/Downloads/Wolfram/Spikey.png"]

Import the resulting file:

Wolfram Language code: Import[%]

Copy from an ExternalStorageObject to a cloud object:

Wolfram Language code: CopyFile[ExternalStorageObject["Qmd1HkTU55zaCDnX2wbnVoq15aPHdutn8c3epuJFAt4dgf", Association["ExternalStorageBase" -> "IPFS", "FileHash" -> "38cb6f3cd68c6c723591a8a385732560"]], CloudObject["Spikey.png"]]

Import the resulting file:

Wolfram Language code: Import[%]

Possible Issues  (1)

Copying to the cloud requires the CloudObject wrapper:

Wolfram Language code: CopyFile[URL["https://www.wolfram.com"], "https://www.wolframcloud.com/obj/documentation/tmp/website"]
Wolfram Language code: CopyFile[URL["https://www.wolfram.com"], CloudObject["https://www.wolframcloud.com/obj/documentation/tmp/website"]]
Wolfram Research (1991), CopyFile, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/CopyFile.html (updated 2020).

Text

Wolfram Research (1991), CopyFile, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/CopyFile.html (updated 2020).

CMS

Wolfram Language. 1991. "CopyFile." Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Wolfram Research. Last Modified 2020. https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/CopyFile.html.

APA

Wolfram Language. (1991). CopyFile. Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Retrieved from https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/CopyFile.html

BibTeX

@misc{reference.wolfram_2026_copyfile, author="Wolfram Research", title="{CopyFile}", year="2020", howpublished="\url{https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/CopyFile.html}", note=[Accessed: 05-October-2026]}

BibLaTeX

@online{reference.wolfram_2026_copyfile, organization={Wolfram Research}, title={CopyFile}, year={2020}, url={https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/CopyFile.html}, note=[Accessed: 05-October-2026]}