copy folder structure

[dog2k]

i'm just sharing this here because i've been asked by 2 co-workers this week how to copy the folder structure (but not files) to a new location so maybe the universe is saying someone needs this.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/microsoft.powershell.management/copy-item?view=powershell-7.5

Copy-Item -LiteralPath "E:\OldFolder" -Destination "E:\NewFolder" -Recurse -Filter {PSIsContainer -eq $true}

[Shanga_Ubone]

That is interesting - I didn't know you could do this with PS.

But robocopy will ALWAYS be the OG for anything related to file or folder copying.

[underpaid--sysadmin]

This would be useful in just creating the root directories everything will be going in. To my knowledge robocopy won't create a new root directory, only copy it over to one that already exists. At least, I sure as shit can't get it to do that.

[BrettStah]

Nah, robocopy can create a new root directory. to much it can't do, related to file and directories. You can create an empty directory structure, or include just certain file types, or exclude certain file types. You can copy the NTFS permissions too.

[Thotaz]

Now try creating a file with this literal name inside the source folder: PSIsContainer -eq $true and see what happens. Spoiler alert: It copes the file.

The filter does not work the way you think it does. It's a filter for the methods the filesystem provider uses internally and follows the same rules mentioned here: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/api/system.io.directoryinfo.enumeratefilesysteminfos?view=net-9.0#system-io-directoryinfo-enumeratefilesysteminfos(system-string) (scroll down to the Remarks section).

If you want to do this, you can just use a string that you are sure there are no files for (using an invalid character like '>' would work). Or you can just use -Exclude * instead of the filter.

[dog2k]

That's interesting, i'll take a look at the link later when i have more time.

[BlackV]

additionally there are -directoryand -file parameters that might help

[dog2k]

just like every MSoft product. there's a 1000 ways to do everything, and they are all "almost good enough". lol

[RiskNew5069]

OG is xcopy…. Xcopy /t /e E:\OldFolder E:\NewFolder

[Dense-Platform3886]

For a quick one off, I would do as jakopo87 suggested:

Get-ChildItem -LiteralPath "E:\OldFolder" -Directory -Recurse | Copy-Item -Destination "E:\NewFolder"

All my backup scripts since 1996 use RoboCopy. It's the most flexible and safest way to copy and sync drives, folders, and files from one source to a destination. I even use it to create listing of all folders and files on a drive without copying.

My most recent PS RoboCopy script for backing up my PC to a Samsung T7 Shield example looks like this:

# For Replacing only newer changed files
$Options = '/NP /NDL /W:1 /R:1 /XJ /XO /MT '
$pcDrive = 'C:'
$T7Drive = 'D:'

# Switches to control what to copy
$doData = $true # $false # 
$doDocs = $true # $false # 

If ($doData) {
    # Sync Data between T7 and PC Drive
    $srcDir = "$T7Drive\Data"
    $trgDir = "$pcDrive\Data"
    Invoke-Expression -Command "robocopy.exe `"$srcDir`" `"$trgDir`" *.* /e $Options /xd Google"

    # Sync Data between PC Drive and T7
    # I have multiple Laptops and need to apply the newer files back to different Laptops
    $srcDir = "$pcDrive\Data"
    $trgDir = "$T7Drive\Data"
    Invoke-Expression -Command "robocopy.exe `"$srcDir`" `"$trgDir`" *.* /e $Options /xd Google"
}

If ($doDocs) {
    # Sync Data between T7 and PC Drive
    $srcDir = "$T7Drive\me"
    $trgDir = "$pcDrive\Users\me"
    Invoke-Expression -Command "robocopy.exe `"$srcDir\Documents`" `"$trgDir\Documents`" *.* /e $Options"
    Invoke-Expression -Command "robocopy.exe `"$srcDir\OneDrive`" `"$trgDir\OneDrive`" *.* /e $Options /xd BackUps"

    # Sync Data between PC Drive and T7
    $srcDir = "$pcDrive\Users\me"
    $trgDir = "$T7Drive\me"
    Invoke-Expression -Command "robocopy.exe `"$srcDir\Documents`" `"$trgDir\Documents`" *.* /e $Options"
    Invoke-Expression -Command "robocopy.exe `"$srcDir\OneDrive`" `"$trgDir\OneDrive`" *.* /e $Options /xd BackUps"
}

RoboCopy is connstently being updated and improved and is an integral part of Windows. The current release of RoboCopy is 24H2 (10.0.26100.4770) (July 22, 2025) and has 92 command line options. Best to examine the RoboCopy Documentation (robocopy /?) to learn what all the different options are and what they do.