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I am using Windows 10 Enterprise (20H2) and setup a storage space of multiple VHXD containers and a REFS formatted disk. I am interested in the block cloning feature, less the explicit dedup command.

Does the explorer support block cloning by duplicating a file manually? I am trying to clone a file several times without any time delay. A similar effect can be seen on Apple File System (APFS).

Daniel Stephens
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  • As far as I understand documentation, ReFS will do this by design, so yes, when you copy a file ReFS will use this feature. Backup software (such as Veeam) uses this feature extensively for Fast Backup and less space utilization. – Stuka Jan 17 '21 at 20:15
  • Interesting, but I can't confirm this. If I copy/clone a file I still see a copy status bar for the amount of time it would normally take to fully clone a 30 GB file. E.g. on macOS APFS it takes around 500ms to clone 30GB – Daniel Stephens Jan 17 '21 at 20:53
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    Sorry for confusing you. Found this script: https://gallery.technet.microsoft.com/Clone-files-using-ReFS-9644cd1b I assume and according to your tests explorer doesn't use block cloning. Hope this was helpful. – Stuka Jan 17 '21 at 20:59
  • Thanks I will give it a try and report – Daniel Stephens Jan 17 '21 at 21:45

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