How to Use Commands to Move Files in Windows 11

About CMD

CMD is a command line tool comes with the Windows system. You can use it to deal with some basic disk problems, such as formatting partitions, extending/shrinking partitions, changing drive letters, etc. In addition, it can be used to check and repair disk errors.

As one of the most popular Windows built-in tools, CMD has the following strengths and weaknesses.

Strengths:
☀ It is an official Windows built-in tool and will not carry any malicious files.
☀ It is automatically installed on Windows PC and costs no money.
☀ Its functions are powerful and extensive.
Shortcomings:
☂ The commands are complex and difficult to remember.
☂ The commands entered are not necessarily applicable to every computer.
☂ It has no clear graphical users interface, so you have to face a CMD window without any picture.

Why need to move files in Windows 11?

When the PC space is insufficient, especially when the system drive (C drive) is full, many Windows users will want to know how to free up it. Since some files are stored in the C drive by default, it is obviously a good idea to migrate the files to another drive.

But how to move files to another drive on Windows 11 efficiently? In the following content, we will share 3 commands to move file in Windows 11.

How to use commands to move files in Windows 11 with 3 ways

How to move files in Command Prompt on Windows 11? Read on, we will talk about 3 commands, including the move command, the Xcopy command and the Robocopy command to move files.

│Method 1. Move command

The move command is a command used in CMD to move files or folders. It is more powerful than normal copy and paste, because it can migrate files out of the original path.

Step 1. Press "Windows + R", type "cmd" and press "Enter". 

Step 2. Type "move c:\program files\*.* E:\" and press "Enter" to execute the move task. ("C" is the drive where the file is located; "E" is the drive where the target file will be stored; "*.*" is a wildcard character designed to distinguish the extension of each file.)

│Method 2. Xcopy command

Xcopy is a more advanced command on Windows OS, it can copy directories, copy source directory structure from one drive to another, etc.

Note: If you are copying content between two different file systems, you will be fail.

Step 1. Press "Windows + R", enter "cmd", and click "OK".

Step 2. In the new window, type "Xcopy C:\test D:\test /E /H /C /I" and press "Enter".

E, H, C, I have their functions respectively:

• /E: Copy the subdirectories, including every empty directories.
• /H: Copy all hidden files files.
• /C: Continue the copying task if there are errors.
• /I: If in doubt, it will always assume the target is a folder.

│Method 3. Robocopy command

Robocopy command is another command to move files in Command Prompt, it will help you copy or move files from a specified drive path. The detailed steps are as follows:

Step 1. Enter "cmd" in the Windows taskbar and click "Run as Administrator".

Step 2. In the CMD window, enter "robocopy C:\ D:\ /MOVE". Then, modify the data according to the actual situation. ("C" is the original path to the destination folder; "D" is the new path.)

An application mover to move files and folders in Windows 11

From the above, you have learned 3 commands to move files in Windows 11. If the above method is complicated for you, you can try a simpler file transfer tool - AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional.

This powerful tool provides you with a graphical user interface. After a few simple clicks, you can easily move file in Windows 11 without command line. In addition to migrating files, this tool can also move installed programs to another drive without reinstalling.

In addition, you can also try some new disk management skills, such as allocating free space to C drive, migrating OS to SSD, cloning hard drive, etc.

  Step 1. Download and install this powerful files mover. Click "Free up" and "App Mover".

Step 2. In the popped out window, you can see two choice: "App Mover" and "Move folders". Here, we choose "Move folders".

Step 3. Select the folder stores the target files and the destination, click "Move".

Step 4. When the task is completed, click "Finished".

Verdict

Look, we have shared 3 commands to move files in Windows 11. Besides, a multi-functional and powerful alternative is also shared for you. If you want to effectively move files in Windows 11 without any safety issue, you can try AOMEI.

By the way, to move files on Windows Server, you can turn to the Server Edition; if you are company users, you’d better try the Unlimited Version.