File Transfers, Listing, and Verification

Last updated on 2026-08-23 | Edit this page

Estimated time: 25 minutes

Overview

Questions

  • How are files moved or copied?
  • What does the rclone sync do?
  • How do you see what is already in the destination?

Objectives

  • Understand the difference between copy and sync
  • Be able to list what is already in the destination
  • Compare rclone command syntax between Linux/macOS and Windows (including WSL2)

Moving files around

Rclone is most frequently used to move files, individually or as a group from one place to another.

Specifying source and destination paths

BASH 

source:folder  destination:folder

Moving, syncing and knowing what is already there

Lists contents of a remote:

BASH 

rclone ls remote:path

Copy local files to remote:

BASH 

rclone copy /local/path remote:path # copies /local/path to the remote

Sync local files to remote:

BASH 

rclone sync --interactive /local/path remote:path # syncs /local/path to the remote

Filtering

Many rclone commands resemble their Unix counterparts, such as ls. Rclone selects which files a command applies to using flags such as --include and --exclude, rather than shell wildcard expansion, so quote the pattern (for example, --include "*.txt") to keep your shell from expanding it first.

Some Examples:

Copying local files to an external drive (Windows using the Linux subsystem)

BASH 

rclone copy /mnt/d/work-related /mnt/f/work-related-backup

Copying files from Google Drive and filtering for *.txt

BASH 

rclone copy rclone-intro-google:rclone-intro-google rclone-intro-box:rclone-intro --include "*.txt"

Checking a result before running by using the -n flag

BASH 

rclone sync rclone-intro-google:rclone-intro-google rclone-intro-box:rclone-intro -n

OUTPUT 

2025/02/09 14:52:11 NOTICE: Beans, Snap and Italian – Pieces, Green and Wax - National Center for Home Food Preservation.pdf: Skipped copy as --dry-run is set (size 91.581Ki)
2025/02/09 14:52:11 NOTICE: For Safety's Sake - National Center for Home Food Preservation.pdf: Skipped copy as --dry-run is set (size 69.982Ki)
2025/02/09 14:52:11 NOTICE: Preserving_Food__Using_Pressure_Canners.pdf: Skipped copy as --dry-run is set (size 3.839Mi)
2025/02/09 14:52:11 NOTICE: Selecting the Correct Processing Time - National Center for Home Food Preservation.pdf: Skipped copy as --dry-run is set (size 123.316Ki)
2025/02/09 14:52:11 NOTICE: test01.txt.docx: Skipped copy as --dry-run is set
2025/02/09 14:52:11 NOTICE: USDA-Complete-Guide-to-Home-Canning-2015-revision.pdf: Skipped copy as --dry-run is set (size 16.518Mi)
2025/02/09 14:52:11 NOTICE: Potatoes, Sweet – Pieces or Whole - National Center for Home Food Preservation.pdf: Skipped copy as --dry-run is set (size 87.602Ki)
2025/02/09 14:52:11 NOTICE:
Transferred:       21.079 MiB / 21.079 MiB, 100%, 0 B/s, ETA -
Checks:                 3 / 3, 100%
Transferred:            8 / 8, 100%
Elapsed time:         2.0s
Challenge

Predict, then verify

You have a disposable rclone-workshop folder with these files:

OUTPUT 

source/notes.txt
source/data.csv
source/photo.jpg
dest/old-report.pdf

dest/old-report.pdf does not exist in source.

Before running anything, predict the answers:

  1. Will rclone copy source dest --include "*.txt" --dry-run touch old-report.pdf?
  2. Will rclone sync source dest --dry-run touch old-report.pdf? If so, how?

Then run both commands against your own disposable folder and check your predictions against the real output.

--dry-run never changes anything on disk — it only reports what would happen, which makes it safe to run as many times as you like while you’re predicting.

BASH 

rclone copy source dest --include "*.txt" --dry-run -v

OUTPUT 

2026/08/23 13:37:13 NOTICE: notes.txt: Skipped copy as --dry-run is set (size 14)
2026/08/23 13:37:13 NOTICE:
Transferred:   	         14 B / 14 B, 100%, 0 B/s, ETA -
Checks:                 0 / 0, -, Listed 1
Transferred:            1 / 1, 100%
Elapsed time:         0.0s

copy never mentions old-report.pdf — it only ever adds or updates files, so anything already at the destination but missing from the source is simply left alone.

BASH 

rclone sync source dest --dry-run -v

OUTPUT 

2026/08/23 13:37:14 NOTICE: notes.txt: Skipped copy as --dry-run is set (size 14)
2026/08/23 13:37:14 NOTICE: photo.jpg: Skipped copy as --dry-run is set (size 6)
2026/08/23 13:37:14 NOTICE: data.csv: Skipped copy as --dry-run is set (size 6)
2026/08/23 13:37:14 NOTICE: old-report.pdf: Skipped delete as --dry-run is set (size 34)
2026/08/23 13:37:14 NOTICE:
Transferred:   	         26 B / 26 B, 100%, 0 B/s, ETA -
Checks:                 1 / 1, 100%, Listed 4
Deleted:                1 (files), 0 (dirs), 34 B (freed)
Transferred:            3 / 3, 100%
Elapsed time:         0.0s

sync reports old-report.pdf as a file it would delete, because sync makes the destination an exact mirror of the source — this is exactly why sync exercises always need --dry-run or --interactive first.

Different operating systems have slightly different syntax

Windows syntax:

BASH 

rclone ls C:\Users\jjamison\rclone
rclone ls "C:\Users\jjamison\My Documents\rclone-workshop"
  • Linux and macOS:

BASH 

rclone copy rclone-intro-box:rclone-intro rclone-intro-google:rclone-intro-google    
rclone copy rclone-intro-box:rclone-intro rclone-intro-google:rclone-intro-google -n

Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL2) syntax:

BASH 

rclone ls /mnt/c/Users/jjamison/rclone

See the Learner Reference page for valid remote names, subcommand syntax, and platform-specific notes.

Key Points
  • Difference between Copy and Sync
  • See what is already in the destination
  • --dry-run shows what a command would do, including deletions, without changing anything on disk