Editing File copying (section)

{{short description|Act of creating a new computer file with content matching an exiting file}}
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In [[computing]], '''file copying''' is the act of creating a new [[Computer file|file]] such that it has the same content as an existing file. The operation is sometimes called ''cloning''. 

Generally, an [[operating system]] [[command-line]] [[shell (computing)|shell]] provides for file copying via commands  <code>[[cp (Unix)|cp]]</code>, <code>[[COPY (command)|copy]]</code> and similar variants.  <code>[[mv (Unix)|mv]]</code> also copies files but only when the source and destination are on different [[file system]]s. [[Windows]] also provides includes the more advanced tools: [[Robocopy]] and [[xcopy]].

Many operating systems also provide for copying files via a [[graphical user interface]], such as a [[file manager]]. It may provide for [[copy-and-paste]] and [[drag-and-drop]] [[user experience]]. 

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Notable third-party utilities:
* [[FastCopy]]
* [[Rclone]]
* [[RichCopy]]
* [[rsync]]
* [[TeraCopy]]
* [[Ultracopier]]