Robocopy moves files older than

Question

here is my script to move files older than a certain amount of days-

mkdir F:\TempRemoval
robocopy "F:\Example" "F:\TempRemoval" /move /e /minage:1
del "F:\TempRemoval\*.*" /f /s /q
rmdir F:\TempRemoval /s /q
exit

The only problem I have is that certain files I need are added into this folder that are 3-4 years old. I know a solution that will work but i'm not sure how to code it.

I want robocopy to only search the date up to the first level of folders i.e

c:\folders\delete

I want it to search the date of only the files and folders listed in "folders" - and move the entire folder and subfolders/files based on that result.

Is there anyway to do this?

Robocopy is seriously messsed up, isn't it? Doesn't make a lick of since. — Charles, Feb 23 '21 at 04:45

score 8 · Answer 1 · answered Feb 23 '12 at 17:30

Look to the syntax/usage of robocopy:

  /MAXAGE:n :: MAXimum file AGE - exclude files older than n days/date.
  /MINAGE:n :: MINimum file AGE - exclude files newer than n days/date.
  /MAXLAD:n :: MAXimum Last Access Date - exclude files unused since n.
  /MINLAD:n :: MINimum Last Access Date - exclude files used since n.
               (If n < 1900 then n = n days, else n = YYYYMMDD date).

Here is the full Robocopy Syntax:

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   ROBOCOPY     ::     Robust File Copy for Windows
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Started : Thu Feb 23 12:25:50 2012

              Usage :: ROBOCOPY source destination [file [file]...] [options]

             source :: Source Directory (drive:\path or \\server\share\path).
        destination :: Destination Dir  (drive:\path or \\server\share\path).
               file :: File(s) to copy  (names/wildcards: default is "*.*").

::
:: Copy options :
::
                 /S :: copy Subdirectories, but not empty ones.
                 /E :: copy subdirectories, including Empty ones.
             /LEV:n :: only copy the top n LEVels of the source directory tree.

                 /Z :: copy files in restartable mode.
                 /B :: copy files in Backup mode.
                /ZB :: use restartable mode; if access denied use Backup mode.
            /EFSRAW :: copy all encrypted files in EFS RAW mode.

  /COPY:copyflag[s] :: what to COPY for files (default is /COPY:DAT).
                       (copyflags : D=Data, A=Attributes, T=Timestamps).
                       (S=Security=NTFS ACLs, O=Owner info, U=aUditing info).

           /DCOPY:T :: COPY Directory Timestamps.

               /SEC :: copy files with SECurity (equivalent to /COPY:DATS).
           /COPYALL :: COPY ALL file info (equivalent to /COPY:DATSOU).
            /NOCOPY :: COPY NO file info (useful with /PURGE).

            /SECFIX :: FIX file SECurity on all files, even skipped files.
            /TIMFIX :: FIX file TIMes on all files, even skipped files.

             /PURGE :: delete dest files/dirs that no longer exist in source.
               /MIR :: MIRror a directory tree (equivalent to /E plus /PURGE).

               /MOV :: MOVe files (delete from source after copying).
              /MOVE :: MOVE files AND dirs (delete from source after copying).

     /A+:[RASHCNET] :: add the given Attributes to copied files.
     /A-:[RASHCNET] :: remove the given Attributes from copied files.

            /CREATE :: CREATE directory tree and zero-length files only.
               /FAT :: create destination files using 8.3 FAT file names only.
               /256 :: turn off very long path (> 256 characters) support.

             /MON:n :: MONitor source; run again when more than n changes seen.
             /MOT:m :: MOnitor source; run again in m minutes Time, if changed.

      /RH:hhmm-hhmm :: Run Hours - times when new copies may be started.
                /PF :: check run hours on a Per File (not per pass) basis.

             /IPG:n :: Inter-Packet Gap (ms), to free bandwidth on slow lines.

                /SL :: copy symbolic links versus the target.

            /MT[:n] :: Do multi-threaded copies with n threads (default 8).
                       n must be at least 1 and not greater than 128.
                       This option is incompatible with the /IPG and /EFSRAW options.
                       Redirect output using /LOG option for better performance.

::
:: File Selection Options :
::
                 /A :: copy only files with the Archive attribute set.
                 /M :: copy only files with the Archive attribute and reset it.
    /IA:[RASHCNETO] :: Include only files with any of the given Attributes set.
    /XA:[RASHCNETO] :: eXclude files with any of the given Attributes set.

 /XF file [file]... :: eXclude Files matching given names/paths/wildcards.
 /XD dirs [dirs]... :: eXclude Directories matching given names/paths.

                /XC :: eXclude Changed files.
                /XN :: eXclude Newer files.
                /XO :: eXclude Older files.
                /XX :: eXclude eXtra files and directories.
                /XL :: eXclude Lonely files and directories.
                /IS :: Include Same files.
                /IT :: Include Tweaked files.

             /MAX:n :: MAXimum file size - exclude files bigger than n bytes.
             /MIN:n :: MINimum file size - exclude files smaller than n bytes.

          /MAXAGE:n :: MAXimum file AGE - exclude files older than n days/date.
          /MINAGE:n :: MINimum file AGE - exclude files newer than n days/date.
          /MAXLAD:n :: MAXimum Last Access Date - exclude files unused since n.
          /MINLAD:n :: MINimum Last Access Date - exclude files used since n.
                       (If n < 1900 then n = n days, else n = YYYYMMDD date).

                /XJ :: eXclude Junction points. (normally included by default).

               /FFT :: assume FAT File Times (2-second granularity).
               /DST :: compensate for one-hour DST time differences.

               /XJD :: eXclude Junction points for Directories.
               /XJF :: eXclude Junction points for Files.

::
:: Retry Options :
::
               /R:n :: number of Retries on failed copies: default 1 million.
               /W:n :: Wait time between retries: default is 30 seconds.

               /REG :: Save /R:n and /W:n in the Registry as default settings.

               /TBD :: wait for sharenames To Be Defined (retry error 67).

::
:: Logging Options :
::
                 /L :: List only - don't copy, timestamp or delete any files.
                 /X :: report all eXtra files, not just those selected.
                 /V :: produce Verbose output, showing skipped files.
                /TS :: include source file Time Stamps in the output.
                /FP :: include Full Pathname of files in the output.
             /BYTES :: Print sizes as bytes.

                /NS :: No Size - don't log file sizes.
                /NC :: No Class - don't log file classes.
               /NFL :: No File List - don't log file names.
               /NDL :: No Directory List - don't log directory names.

                /NP :: No Progress - don't display percentage copied.
               /ETA :: show Estimated Time of Arrival of copied files.

          /LOG:file :: output status to LOG file (overwrite existing log).
         /LOG+:file :: output status to LOG file (append to existing log).

       /UNILOG:file :: output status to LOG file as UNICODE (overwrite existing log).
      /UNILOG+:file :: output status to LOG file as UNICODE (append to existing log).

               /TEE :: output to console window, as well as the log file.

               /NJH :: No Job Header.
               /NJS :: No Job Summary.

           /UNICODE :: output status as UNICODE.

::
:: Job Options :
::
       /JOB:jobname :: take parameters from the named JOB file.
      /SAVE:jobname :: SAVE parameters to the named job file
              /QUIT :: QUIT after processing command line (to view parameters).
              /NOSD :: NO Source Directory is specified.
              /NODD :: NO Destination Directory is specified.
                /IF :: Include the following Files.

I've seen the syntax.. but newer than will not solve my issue simply because I don't know the dates of certain files- it changes. I need robocopy to just scan the first level if possible — Jlouisfoster, Feb 23 '12 at 17:37
googling it: http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/ITCG/thread/b5cb685e-32f6-4eed-855d-e710ca4b203f — tcables, Apr 11 '13 at 16:00
is there any way to give hrs and minute for robocopy /MAXAGE: and ?MINAGE: ?? — Josh, Jun 24 '13 at 20:52
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/17285720/robocopy-maxage-minage-value-with-hours-and-minutes/17286213#17286213 — tcables, Jun 24 '13 at 22:29

score 4 · Answer 2 · edited Apr 03 '19 at 13:34

Even though you specify dates with maxage, it will still scan the whole folder to determine time stamp. Sometimes it can go pretty long if you have lots of folders and files. You may want to do XD switch in order for robocopy to exclude the folder for scanning.

If your folder is dated such as '2012-xx-xx .... 2014-xx-xx' you can't easily exclude them using xd. For example,

roboycopy source dest /E /xd *2012* *2013* *2014-01* *2014-02*

This will copy only folders newer or equal to 2014-03

Doing this way, I cut down my backup time from 20 minutes to 2 minutes instead of using maxage.

score -1 · Answer 3 · answered Oct 24 '13 at 08:29

You can use /XD to exclude directories, /XF to exclude files
/Maxage:n can be used to exclude files older than n days,
but afaik it only works for whole days

Also, if you only need to move files and not directories,
you can change /MOVE to /MOV.
Not sure if that also excludes the files in those directories, though.

Robocopy moves files older than

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