Is there a way to copy files with a batch file to the folder that batch file is in?

Question

So I am trying to make a batch file to sync an external hard drive. My hard drive is not always connected to the same letter, so i cannot just make a batch file with xcopy F:\Folder1 G:\backupharddrive because G:\backupharddrivewould be variable

Is there a way to just copy to the folder the batch file is in?

Another good thing to know about batch is that you can get the current directory and path of the batch file by using the %0 variable and its modifiers. `%~dp0` would give the path the batch file is in. — Squashman, Jan 06 '16 at 15:21

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Jan 07 '16 at 04:08

Just use relative addressing, where . represents the current directory.

xcopy F:\Folder1 .

For future reference, you can also access the parent of the current folder (IOW, 1 level higher up in the directory tree) using ... This makes it handy to move up a level, or even over one. For instance, to copy files from C:\Temp\One to C:\Temp\Two, you can use

xcopy *.* ..\Two\

which means copy the files from this folder up one level and then over to the Two folder.

If you use dir from a command prompt, you'll see that in any level below the drive root you'll have items for . and .. in the list. (The root only has ., because it has no parent folder.

Is there a way to copy files with a batch file to the folder that batch file is in?

1 Answers1