How can I move all the files from one folder to another using the command line?

Question

What is the best command to move all files from one folder to another?

I want to do this from within a batch file.

Answer 1

move c:\sourcefolder c:\targetfolder

will work, but you will end up with a structure like this:

c:\targetfolder\sourcefolder\[all the subfolders & files]

If you want to move just the contents of one folder to another, then this should do it:

SET src_folder=c:\srcfold
SET tar_folder=c:\tarfold

for /f %%a IN ('dir "%src_folder%" /b') do move "%src_folder%\%%a" "%tar_folder%\"

pause

Answer 2

This command will move all the files in originalfolder to destinationfolder.

MOVE c:\originalfolder\* c:\destinationfolder

(However it wont move any sub-folders to the new location.)

To lookup the instructions for the MOVE command type this in a windows command prompt:

MOVE /?

Answer 3

You can use the command move

move <source directory> <destination directory>

Reference