CP command prompt Windows 7 not recognized

Question

I am trying to run the command CP at the command prompt on Windows 7 but I'm getting:

'cp' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file.

Do I need to install any software to run "cp" command?

If so what?

`cp` is unix, here is a [useful link](http://www.ai.uga.edu/mc/winforunix.html) that gives common translations between unix and windows, — celeriko, Feb 12 '14 at 17:12
chcp is a command to alter the code page. Is that what you meant? — foxidrive, Feb 13 '14 at 03:18

GabrielF · Answer 1 · 2019-08-07T18:46:23.687

55

By default, there's no cp in Windows Command Prompt (cmd.exe). The equivalent cmd.exe command is copy. cp is a Unix command.

If you can use PowerShell instead, which should come pre-installed in modern Windows systems, you can use cp and some other Unix commands directly in it.

If PowerShell isn't an alternative, you can use cp directly in Windows Command Prompt if you install Cygwin.

Moreover, Cygwin also includes the rsync command, which has many more features than cp, and might be preferable if you're not just copying a single file (e.g. for backup purposes).

edited Aug 07 '19 at 18:46

answered Feb 12 '14 at 16:57

GabrielF

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There must be something as I've been able to run the command as "cp" on a windows server before – Satch3000 Feb 12 '14 at 17:06
Oh, well... sorry then. I've never seen it. But maybe it was [Cygwin](http://www.cygwin.com/), [MinGW](http://www.mingw.org/) or something like that? I use Cygwin and really like it. – GabrielF Feb 12 '14 at 17:07
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Btw, I just confirmed you can use `cp` from Windows prompt if you have Cygwin installed. And it also has `rsync`, which is a far more complete tool if you're not just copying one file around (e.g. backup purposes). – GabrielF Feb 12 '14 at 17:11
Cygwin has bunch of packages to select from when installing. Which should be selected? https://i.imgur.com/Fvb6d3o.png – T.Todua Aug 23 '21 at 16:42

score 14 · Accepted Answer · answered Feb 12 '14 at 17:14

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it is a unix/linux command. Download the cygwin package from cygwin.com

answered Feb 12 '14 at 17:14

Bobby

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One can also use PowerShell to use cp in Windows – Nino Filiu Nov 19 '18 at 22:25
You don't need cygwin for this. You can use the Gnu-Win32 packages. Works without cygwin. – Stefan Steiger Aug 08 '19 at 12:58

score 3 · Answer 3 · edited Mar 19 '22 at 20:39

There's a way to do run cp without cygwin and powershell and without admin rights.

Download the respective package (CoreUtils) from the Gnu-Win32 package repository.

You need the zipped binaries and the zipped dependencies. Unpack, and copy bin from deps to bin from coreutils.

Now add the bin folder to the path environment variable (system or user, depending on if you're admin or not), and open a new console. Type cp, and you'll see standard cp command output.

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Mar 19 '22 at 19:05

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use cp of git , is good ! download here : https://git-scm.com/

answered Mar 19 '22 at 19:05

abdelkader

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CP command prompt Windows 7 not recognized

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