Copy directory structure only no files

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Learn more. Copy folder structure without files from one location to another Ask Question. Asked 11 years, 2 months ago. Active 3 months ago. Viewed k times. I want to copy to a linux system and our file server is CIFS mounted there. Improve this question. Possible duplicate of Rsync how to include directories but not files? Add a comment. Active Oldest Votes. You could do something like: find. Improve this answer. Vitaly Isaev 4, 5 5 gold badges 41 41 silver badges 61 61 bronze badges.

Greg Hewgill Greg Hewgill k gold badges silver badges bronze badges. This solutions won't work if you have spaces in your directory names. Jealie Change the commands to find. This will cause both commands to use nulls as separators instead of whitespace. With a lot of directories, you may have to write a script to loop through the output instead. TrevorBoydSmith: Thanks for your comment.

The original question didn't mention anything about needing to preserve permissions, ownership, or attributes. Doing so would require a different solution, as you mention, but the above is sufficient to answer the question as posed. Show 6 more comments. Best answer from me with find. But if there is a slight error in the command, the copy operation may fail, and even lead to data loss. Therefore, you must be very careful when using Xcopy command. For users who are not familiar with the use of the command line, and want to copy files and folders easily, you can also use a third-party backup software.

Xcopy essentially duplicates your folders to create an intact copy, and although it has some optional parameters, it is still difficult to do some advanced operations or requires carefully written syntax.

For example, you may want to auto copy changed files to target directory, keep different versions of backups for accurate recovery, compress backup files to save storage space, etc. What's more: If you want to auto sync changed files from source to target in real time, or auto delete older versions of backups to save space, you can upgrade to Professional edition.

If you want to backup folders into restorable image files, however, you can consider Backup options, which are better suited for backing up large data like partitions, disks, OS , or keeping different backup versions. In advanced edition, you can enjoy 3 more practical sync modes: Real-Time Sync : Sync changed files from source directory to target directory in real time.

Mirror Sync : Keep the contents in target directory exactly the same as the source directory. Two-Way Sync : Make any changes in source or target directory be synced to the other side mutually. Click Add Folder to specify the folder and click OK. This function can help you backup files with specific file extension, you can upgrade to advanced versions to enjoy it. Select the destination path you want to copy files to. Internal hard drive, connected external hard drive, cloud drive, shared folder, and NAS are all available.

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