How to Copy Files from a .txt File While Preserving Subfolder Structure Using PowerShell

Learn how to efficiently copy files from a .txt file to a new location in PowerShell while preserving the original folder structure.
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How to Copy Files from a .txt File While Preserving Subfolder Structure Using PowerShell

If you've ever needed to copy a large number of files from one location to another while maintaining their original folder structure, you might have found yourself scratching your head. This guide will walk you through the process of copying files as specified in a .txt file using PowerShell, while ensuring that the subfolder hierarchy is preserved.

The Problem

Imagine you have millions of files organized in a complex directory structure. You are tasked with copying only specific files listed in a .txt file to a new destination, maintaining the original hierarchy.

Here’s how the source structure might look:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Your destination should resemble this:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

The challenge here is to correctly read and copy files specified in your .txt file that includes relative paths, without losing the directory structure.

The Solution

To solve this problem, you can use a PowerShell script. Below are the steps you need to take to ensure accurate copying while preserving the folder structure.

Step 1: Define Your Variables

First, define the following paths in your PowerShell script:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Step 2: Read the File Paths

Next, read the file paths from the .txt file. This file contains the relative paths of the files.

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Step 3: Copy the Files with Directory Structure

Now, loop through each file and use the Copy-Item command to copy the files to the destination while creating the necessary directories.

Here is the modified script:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Explanation of the Script

Join-Path: This cmdlet is used to combine paths. It ensures that the correct file separators are used.

Split-Path: This extracts the directory path from the full destination file path, enabling folder creation.

New-Item: This creates the necessary directories if they do not already exist. The -Force option ensures that no errors occur if the directory is already present.

Copy-Item: Finally, this cmdlet performs the copying of individual files to their new destinations.

Conclusion

If you follow the steps outlined above, you will successfully copy files from your .txt file into a new location, preserving the original folder structure as intended. Using PowerShell for such tasks not only simplifies the process but also saves you time when handling large batches of files.

Feel free to modify the script according to your specific paths and file names. Happy scripting!