Move-Item

Syntax

Move-Item
    [-Path] <String[]>
    [[-Destination] <String>]
    [-Force]
    [-Filter <String>]
    [-Include <String[]>]
    [-Exclude <String[]>]
    [-PassThru]
    [-Credential <PSCredential>]
    [-WhatIf]
    [-Confirm]
    [-UseTransaction]
    [<CommonParameters>]

Move-Item
    -LiteralPath <String[]>
    [[-Destination] <String>]
    [-Force]
    [-Filter <String>]
    [-Include <String[]>]
    [-Exclude <String[]>]
    [-PassThru]
    [-Credential <PSCredential>]
    [-WhatIf]
    [-Confirm]
    [-UseTransaction]
    [<CommonParameters>]

Description

The Move-Item cmdlet moves an item, including its properties, contents, and child items, from one location to another location. The locations must be supported by the same provider. For example, it can move a file or subdirectory from one directory to another or move a registry subkey from one key to another. When you move an item, it is added to the new location and deleted from its original location.

Examples

Example 1: Move a file to another directory and rename it

This command moves the "Test.txt" file from the C: drive to the "E:\Temp" directory and renames it from "test.txt" to "tst.txt".

Move-Item -Path C:\test.txt -Destination E:\Temp\tst.txt

Example 2: Move a directory and its contents to another directory

This command moves the "C:\Temp" directory and its contents to the "C:\Logs" directory. The "Temp" directory, and all of its subdirectories and files, then appear in the "Logs" directory.

Move-Item -Path C:\Temp -Destination C:\Logs

Example 3: Move all files of a specified extension from the current directory to another directory

This command moves all of the text files ("*.txt") in the current directory (represented by a dot ('.')) to the "C:\Logs" directory.

Move-Item -Path .\*.txt -Destination C:\Logs

Example 4: Recursively move all files of a specified extension from the current directory to another directory

This command moves all of the text files from the current directory and all subdirectories, recursively, to the "C:\TextFiles" directory.

The command uses the Get-ChildItem cmdlet to get all of the child items in the current directory (represented by the dot [.]) and its subdirectories that have a ".txt" file name extension. It uses the Recurse parameter to make the retrieval recursive and the Include parameter to limit the retrieval to ".txt" files.

The pipeline operator (|) sends the results of this command to Move-Item, which moves the text files to the "TextFiles" directory.

If files that are to be moved to "C:\Textfiles" have the same name, Move-Item displays an error and continues, but it moves only one file with each name to "C:\Textfiles". The other files remain in their original directories.

If the "Textfiles" directory (or any other element of the destination path) does not exist, the command fails. The missing directory is not created for you, even if you use the Force parameter. Move-Item moves the first item to a file called "Textfiles" and then displays an error explaining that the file already exists.

Also, by default, Get-ChildItem does not move hidden files. To move hidden files, use the Force parameter with Get-ChildItem.

Note: In Windows PowerShell 2.0, when using the Recurse parameter of the Get-ChildItem cmdlet, the value of the Path parameter must be a container. Use the Include parameter to specify the .txt file name extension filter (Get-ChildItem -Path .\* -Include *.txt -Recurse | Move-Item -Destination C:\TextFiles).

Get-ChildItem -Path ".\*.txt" -Recurse | Move-Item -Destination "C:\TextFiles"

Example 5: Move registry keys and values to another key

This command moves the registry keys and values within the "MyCompany" registry key in "HKLM\Software" to the "MyNewCompany" key. The wildcard character ('*') indicates that the contents of the "MyCompany" key should be moved, not the key itself. In this command, the optional Path and Destination parameter names are omitted.

Move-Item "HKLM:\software\mycompany\*" "HKLM:\software\mynewcompany"

Example 6: Move a directory and its contents to a subdirectory of the specified directory

This command moves the "Logs[Sept`06]" directory (and its contents) into the "Logs[2006]" directory.

The LiteralPath parameter is used instead of Path, because the original directory name includes left bracket and right bracket characters ("[" and "]"). The path is also enclosed in single quotation marks (' '), so that the backtick symbol (`) is not misinterpreted.

The Destination parameter does not require a literal path, because the Destination variable also must be enclosed in single quotation marks, because it includes brackets that can be misinterpreted.

Move-Item -LiteralPath 'Logs[Sept`06]' -Destination 'Logs[2006]'

Parameters

-Confirm

-Credential

-Destination

-Exclude

-Filter

-Force

-Include

-LiteralPath

-PassThru

-Path

-UseTransaction

-WhatIf

Inputs

String

You can pipe a string that contains a path to this cmdlet.

Outputs

None or an object representing the moved item.

When you use the PassThru parameter, this cmdlet generates an object representing the moved item. Otherwise, this cmdlet does not generate any output.

Notes

This cmdlet will move files between drives that are supported by the same provider, but it will move directories only within the same drive.

Because a Move-Item command moves the properties, contents, and child items of an item, all moves are recursive by default.

This cmdlet is designed to work with the data exposed by any provider. To list the providers available in your session, type Get-PSProvider. For more information, see about_Providers.

Related Links

• Clear-Item
• Copy-Item
• Get-Item
• Invoke-Item
• New-Item
• Remove-Item
• Rename-Item
• Set-Item
• about_Providers