Copying folders from a source folder to a destination folder using xcopy batch command

Question

I have a batch file that is copying data from a source folder to a destination folder. A text file called list.txt decides which folders from the source folder will be copied to the dest folder. The contents of the text file, list.txt, are:

F:\200208
F:\200210
F:\200214

The batch file is:

@echo off
for /f "tokens=*" %%i in (list.txt) do (
        xcopy /s /i "%%i" "D:\username\Videos\%%i"
    )
pause

However, when I run the batch file, I get the following error messages:

Invalid path
0 File(s) copied
Invalid path
0 File(s) copied
Invalid path
0 File(s) copied
Press any key to continue . . .

The name of the drive in which this batch file is residing is F and folders with name 200208, 200210 & 200214 do exist in that same drive F. Also, the dest folder exists.

Can someone point out where the issue is?

Put an ECHO at the beginning of the line inside your loop so you can can see the problem. It would look like ECHO xcopy /s /i "%%i" "D:\username\Videos\%%i". — aphoria

Squashman Squashman · Accepted Answer · 2020-02-14T18:27:09

The destination path in your code is resolving to "D:\username\Videos\F:\200208". That is why you are getting an invalid path.

You just want the folder name so change %%i to %%~nxi in the destination path.

Copying folders from a source folder to a destination folder using xcopy batch command

1 Answers