6 Ways to Copy Files Faster in Windows 10 and 11
While you probably don’t think much about the Copy dialog box in Windows, there are a few ways to improve the experience it provides when copying and pasting. It’s not always fast when you copy a large number of files. And in Windows 7 and earlier, the whole process halts and waits for your input if a conflict or other error occurs.
Thankfully Windows 10 and 11 no longer have this problem. But you can still speed up copying files in Windows in other ways. Let’s take a look at how to copy files faster in Windows.
1. Use keyboard shortcuts for faster file copying
Keyboard shortcuts are a great way to work more efficiently in almost any software, and File Explorer is no exception. For basic file copying, pasting, and moving, you should have some common keyboard shortcuts under your belt.
The most important are the basic cut, copy and paste operations. You must know these shortcuts for efficient copy and paste.
These aren’t the only File Explorer keyboard shortcuts you should know. Use Ctrl+Shift+N to quickly create a new folder to hold the copied files. Alt + Left / Right will let you go to the previous and next folder, respectively. Use Alt + Up to go up one level in your folder hierarchy.
And finally, Ctrl+A will select all the contents of the current folder. This makes it easy to move everything from one place to another without having to pick everything apart. For more information, learn how to better manage your Windows Clipboard.
2. Learn Mouse Shortcuts for Faster Copying
If you prefer to use the mouse, there aren’t as many tricks for easy copy and pasting. But you can still use some of the faster copy and paste methods.
Hold down Ctrl and click multiple files to select them all, regardless of where they are on the page. To select multiple files in a row, click the first one, then hold down Shift while you click the last one. This lets you easily select a large number of files to copy or cut.
Normally, clicking and dragging files with the left mouse button will move them to the new location (similar to cutting and pasting). However, if you instead click and drag them with the right mouse button, you will see a small menu. This lets you choose whether to copy or move files, so it’s handy if you don’t want to use keyboard shortcuts for whatever reason.
3. Use Windows 10 or 11 for the Fastest File Copy
We mentioned earlier that modern versions of Windows offer better copy interfaces than Windows 7 and earlier. It’s fast and provides a graph showing the speed over time.
Even better, if you copy more than one set of files at once, it lumps everything together so you don’t have more than one window floating around. You can pause and resume individual processes, allowing you to prioritize one operation or pause a long transfer while you use your computer for something else.
And the best part is that in Windows 10 and later the copy dialog will not completely close if there is a conflict with the operation. It continues and lets you give feedback when you return. This is much better than going away for a while, only to return and find that the operation has stalled in a few seconds.
If you are still using unsupported Windows 7, now is a good time to move from Windows 7 to Windows 10 or 11 and get all kinds of improvements like this one.
4. Try Teracopy
All of the above methods are fairly simple ways to increase your copying speed in Windows 10 or 11. To go further, you should install a dedicated Copy app. One of the most popular is the free TeraCopy.
This app packs far more functionality than what Windows has to offer. It uses various algorithms to speed up the copying process. The app can verify copied files to make sure they are 100 percent identical. And if you often accidentally drag and drop files, you can enable a confirmation prompt to make sure you really meant to do it.
TeraCopy has a few other touches that make it even more sophisticated. If you want, you can integrate the app with File Explorer so that all copy/paste operations use TeraCopy by default. It also keeps the original date and time information on the copied files.
Additionally, the software intelligently skips problematic files and lets you review them later instead of freezing the entire operation. Overall, it’s a great tool for those who copy files frequently.
TeraCopy is free, with an optional paid upgrade that most home users probably won’t need.