Error copying file or folder ошибка

Updated on May 13th, 2021

This post talks about “Error copying file or folder” issues, including problem symptom, causes and several approaches to fix it. Besides, this post explains how to recover data from corrupted drive at the ending part. If you encounter this problem and do not have a clue to fix it, continue reading to find out solutions.

“Error copying file or folder” appears when you attempt to copy a file or folder to some storage devices. This is not a peculiar issue and may Windows users may run into this error. Causes of the issue vary from people to people, as it appears with different messages. It comes up with a message box named “Error Copying File or Folder” and content might be one of the following messages in different cases:

• “Make sure the disk is not full or write-protected and that the file is not currently in use.”
• “There is not enough free disk space. Delete one or more files to free disk space, and then try again.”
• “Data error (cyclic redundancy check).”
• “Access is denied.”
• “An error occurred while copying the file. The operation timed out.”
• “Catastrophic failure”
• “Cannot find the specified file. Make sure you specify the correct path and file name.”
• “Unspecified error”
• “The disk is write-protected. Remove the write-protection or use another disk.”
• “Parameter is incorrect.”
• “The required resource is in use.”
• “The directory or file cannot be created.”

A real case found from forum

“I like taking photos using digital cameras. I wanted to share some photographs with my friends via USB device. I have nearly 100 photos and 10 video files that I need to copy to my 16GB USB drive. I selected all of them and attempted to paste them in USB drive, but received an error ‘Error Copying File or Folder. Cannot copy: The Parameter is incorrect.’ This error confused me, as this is the first time. Is that USB flash drive broken?”

Causes of error copying file or folder

Causes of this cannot copy file error vary from one to another, as it appears in difference cases and comes with various error messages. This part lists the most common causes.

• File being copied is larger than 4GB. If you copy a very large file which is larger than 4GB to FAT32 partition such as USB flash drive, SD card, etc. you’ll be blocked by error message. Since FAT32 file system can’t store file whose per-file size is larger than 4GB, you can’t copy file to that partition successfully. Sometimes, you can see another error message “The file is too large for the destination file system.”
• The disk is write-protected. Some SD card or USB flash drive had a physical switch which can write protect disk so that disk can be protected from virus or malware. Besides, users can set write protection via registry editor. Once a disk is write-protected, it is read-only, thus no data can be written in.
• Target does not have enough free space. If there is not enough free disk space, and the amount of file you want to copy is very large, the data copy operation can’t be completed.
• Target disk is corrupted. If target partition is corrupted or damaged, it won’t be able to read or write data anymore. “Access is denied” or “The parameter is incorrect” will appear on the message box. If you do not safely remove USB disk from computer, partition is likely to get this accessible issue.
• System limitation. Another possible reason behind this issue is the limitation of operating system which fails to recognize file names beyond 255 characters.
• File or folder ownership changed. In some cases, the change of operating system or user account may cause permission issue. If you do not have ownership of certain files or folders, you can copy, delete, write, edit or save data.
• The file is encrypted. Most users encrypt data for the purpose of well protecting data, thus some encrypted files can’t be copied to other location for safekeeping.
• Other reasons. File or folder you want to copy is corrupted; the user profile is corrupted; lose permission; target disk is physically damaged, etc.

How to fix “Error copying file or folder” issue?

As this issue is not caused by same reason, thus there won’t be one solution to get rid of this error. This section provides a couple of easy solutions and you can try them one after another.

Solution 1: Format target partition into NTFS or exFAT

If the file you try to copy is no less than 4GB, you can compress it with WinRAR, thus you can get a smaller file. This solution does not work on all case, thus you need to change file system format for target disk.

1. Open Windows Explorer by double-clicking Computer or This PC.
2. Backup files for target partition. Formatting erases data, thus you need to backup data before formatting it. It’s easy to backup files, as you can simply copy file from this partition to another.
3. Right-click this partition and select “Format”. Then you can select file system as NTFS or exFAT and click “OK”. Note: if your system can’t set needed file system, you can use PartitionGuru to do the formatting job.

Solution 2: Remove write-protection

Check the appearance of the target and find out whether there is a physical switch which is used to lock / unlock disk. If it is placed to the Lock side, you need to move it to the unlocked side. If there is not such switch, you can follow these steps to remove write-protection using Windows Registry Editor.

1. Press Win + R keys together to get Run window where you should enter “Regedit” and hit Enter. Click “Yes” if you get UAC prompt.
2. There is directory path on the left panel of Registry Editor and you need to navigate to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetControl
3. Find out StorageDevicePolicies and open it. Right-click the empty area on the right side and select New and DWORD (32-bit) Value; Then change its name to WriteProtect.
4. Double click the WriteProtect key and enter 0 in the Value data box and click OK.

Solution 3: Extend target drive

If you get this file copying error on account that there is not enough disk space, you can either change target location or just extent partition. PartitionGuru can extend NTFS and exFAT partition without data loss and the process is easy to follow.

1. Run PartitionGuru Free and right-click partition you want to extend and select “Resize partition”.
2. set partition size you want to move and click “Start” button.
3. Wait for a while and the process will be done.

Solution 4: Change file and folder permission

Please note that you need to log in computer as an administrator before carrying out following steps.

1. Select and right-click file or folder and click “Properties”.
2. Click Security tab on the Properties window.
3. Click your name under Group or user names to check permissions you have.
4. Click “Edit” button and select your user name on next window. Check box under Allow to gain permissions you should have and click “OK”.

Solution 5: Create a new local user account

Once in a while, operating system can’t read your local user profile correctly, preventing you from accessing data. On this occasion, you may need to create a new local user profile to solve this problem.

1. Open Microsoft Management Console. Click Start button and type mmc into the searching box , and then hit Enter. If you are asked for confirmation or administrator password, provide confirmation or password.
2. Click Local User and Groups from the left part of Microsoft Management Console.
3. Click User folder, Action and New User one by one.
4. Type appropriate information in the dialog box and click Create. Click Close then user account is created.

As to step 2, if there is not Local User and Groups in your computer, you need carry out following steps:

• Click File from menu and select “Add/Remove Snap-in”.
• Select “Local User and Group” and click Add.
• Select “Local computer” from the popped-up box and click Finish, then click OK.

How to recover data from “Access is denied” drive？

Formatting is the most direct and easy way to repair inaccessible or damages partition, but it is not the perfect choice, as it erases data. Thus, we need to retrieve data from before formatting if files mean a lot. “Access is denied” is one of such problem we should handle in this way.

Eassos free data recovery software is capable of retrieving data from drive and partition which can’t be opened and reports varies error messages, like “The parameter is incorrect” “Location is not available” “Access is denied” “Disk is not formatted”, etc. Here is the step-by-step recovery process. Eassos Recovery Free is free recovery software, supporting file recovery and partition recovery. It’s able to help you retrieve data from damaged, corrupted or deleted partitions as well as from emptied Recycle Bin. The follow guide tells how to recover files from inaccessible drive.

1. Install and run Eassos Recovery Free. Select “Recovery Files From Partition” recovery mode from the main interface.
2. Click the drive letter of the inaccessible partition and click “Next” button. Eassos Recovery starts to scan this partition to find out lost data.
3. When scanning is paused or completed, you can copy files to a normal partition. Select files you need and click “Recover” button, then you can set location to save data.

Here is the guide quick navigation for fixing unspecified error when copying files or folders on Windows 10:

‘Error Copying File or Folder’ with Unspecified Error on Windows 10/8/7

«Hi guys, do you know how to solve the problem when you are trying to copy a file or a folder to a target partition on your PC when an error message pop up and warn you with an unspecified error of copying file or folder? Yesterday, I was trying to copy a file folder with about 2GB of files to the F: drive. But when I clicked ‘Paste’, the computer warned me that I couldn’t copy files to the destination partition with ‘Error Copying File or Folder’ warning message. I’m now using Windows 10, by the way. So is there a way that can help me fix this issue so that I can copy and save my files on target partition or hard drive? How?«

The unspecified error — ‘Error Copying File or Folder’ may occur to any users under Windows 10/8/7 while you are trying to copy and paste files to a new location. So what’s the reason that blocks you from copying files or folder to the destination device? There are so many.

Possible Causes of Unspecified Error in Windows

If you don’t know how or what caused the unspecified error of copying file or folder on your Windows computer, you may check the below to find out the cause of your current problem:

• The copied files are larger than 4GB: if the copied files are larger than 4GB and you want to copy them to a FAT32 partition such as USB or SD, you’ll be blocked by this error message
• The disk is write-protected: If the destination partition or drive is read-only, write-protected, no data can be written in
• The Target disk has not enough free space: if there is not enough free space and the files that you want to copy is very large, the data copy won’t be completed
• Target disk is corrupted, or the file is encrypted
• System limitation
• File or folder ownership changed

These are the main reasons why you receive the unspecified error message while copying files or folders.

How to Fix ‘Error Copying File or Folder’ Issue Without Losing Data

Don’t worry if you’ve encountered this error and couldn’t copy files or folder to the destination device or hard drive. There is more than one way for you to cope with the problem. Follow to remove ‘Error Copying File or Folder’ with unspecified error in Windows 10 immediately. Based on the causes listed above, there are the corresponding fixes:

Method 1. Format the Target Partition/Disk to NTFS or exFAT

If you attempt to copy a file larger than 4GB to a partition with the FAT32 file system (you can check the file system of your drive in properties), you will definitely fail. Why? Although the total size of the files that you can copy to a FAT32 drive could be up to 2TB, the size of each individual file cannot exceed 4GB.

If the files that you want to copy is more than 4GB, you can compress the file with WinRAR or ZIP so to get a smaller file. But if this doesn’t work or if the destination device offers no access for you to reach with «The parameter is incorrect» message, you can directly convert the target partition or disk to NTFS or exFAT, which can be done by formatting the drive.

However, since formatting will erase all the files on your target drive, you should back up the files with free backup software or copy them elsewhere in advance. To format a drive:

Step 1. Open «This PC».

Step 2. Find and right-click your target partition. Choose «Format» in the menu.

Step 3. Assign a Windows-compatible file system to your drive and click «Start».

Step 4. In the warning window, click «OK» to confirm the operation.

The unspecified error — ‘Error Copying File or Folder’ may occur to any users under Windows 10/8/7 while you are trying to copy and paste files to a new location. So what’s the reason that blocks you from copying files or folder to the destination device? There are so many.

Possible Causes of Unspecified Error in Windows

If you don’t know how or what caused the unspecified error of copying file or folder on your Windows computer, you may check the below to find out the cause of your current problem:

• The copied files are larger than 4GB: if the copied files are larger than 4GB and you want to copy them to a FAT32 partition such as USB or SD, you’ll be blocked by this error message
• The disk is write-protected: If the destination partition or drive is read-only, write-protected, no data can be written in
• The Target disk has not enough free space: if there is not enough free space and the files that you want to copy is very large, the data copy won’t be completed
• Target disk is corrupted, or the file is encrypted
• System limitation
• File or folder ownership changed

These are the main reasons why you receive the unspecified error message while copying files or folders.

How to Fix ‘Error Copying File or Folder’ Issue Without Losing Data

Don’t worry if you’ve encountered this error and couldn’t copy files or folder to the destination device or hard drive. There is more than one way for you to cope with the problem. Follow to remove ‘Error Copying File or Folder’ with unspecified error in Windows 10 immediately. Based on the causes listed above, there are the corresponding fixes:

Method 1. Format the Target Partition/Disk to NTFS or exFAT

If you attempt to copy a file larger than 4GB to a partition with the FAT32 file system (you can check the file system of your drive in properties), you will definitely fail. Why? Although the total size of the files that you can copy to a FAT32 drive could be up to 2TB, the size of each individual file cannot exceed 4GB.

If the files that you want to copy is more than 4GB, you can compress the file with WinRAR or ZIP so to get a smaller file. But if this doesn’t work or if the destination device offers no access for you to reach with «The parameter is incorrect» message, you can directly convert the target partition or disk to NTFS or exFAT, which can be done by formatting the drive.

However, since formatting will erase all the files on your target drive, you should back up the files with free backup software or copy them elsewhere in advance. To format a drive:

Step 1. Open «This PC».

Step 2. Find and right-click your target partition. Choose «Format» in the menu.

Step 3. Assign a Windows-compatible file system to your drive and click «Start».

Step 4. In the warning window, click «OK» to confirm the operation.

You can also refer to the guide on how to format a hard drive in Windows 10 to see how to format the target partition in alternative ways.

Method 2. Extend the Partition Showing the Unspecified Error

If the unspecified error of copying files or folder caused by not enough free space on the target hard drive partition, you can either free up space on your computer or directly apply free partition manager software to extend hard drive partition to resolve this issue by simple clicks.

Method 3. Remove Write-Protection on the Target Disk

If your device was write-protected when you came into the ‘Error Copying File or Folder’ on your computer, you could follow the steps below to remove the write-protection on your device using diskpart:

Step 1. Run «Command Prompt» as an administrator.

Step 2. Enter diskpart and click «Yes» in the prompt asking for notification.

Step 3. Enter the following command in order:

llist volume
select volume X (Replace «X» with the number of your write-protected hard drive.)
attributes disk clear readonly

After this, you should be able to use your target hard drive partition to save files and folder without any problems. If the «read-only» attribute remains, you can try other tips provided in the article on how to fix «Windows cannot run disk checking on this volume because it is write protected».

If you don’t consider yourself a pro-computer user and you’re not familiar with command-lines, don’t worry. There are graphical-based solutions to help you remove write-protection from your hard drives, USB drives, and even SD cards.

EaseUS CleanGenius is one of these tools that helps you fix aforementioned issues on your drives without knowing a thing about command-line.

Here’s an easy-to-follow guide on how to use this tool to get your issues sorted:

Step 1: DOWNLOAD and install EaseUS CleanGenius (free) on your computer.

Step 2: Run EaseUS CleanGenius on your PC, select Optimization and choose the Write Protection mode.

Step 3: Select the device that is write-protected and click Disable to remove the protection.

Step 3: Select the device that is write-protected and click Disable to remove the protection.

Method 4. Format the Disk or Decrypt the Files

If you receive the unspecified error while copying files or folders because the target disk is corrupted or the file is encrypted. You can format the disk if is corrupted to have a try. While if the files are encrypted, you only need to decrypt the items.

Method 5. Change the User Account

You may have no permission to make changes to the files and folders using your current account. Thus, switch to another account on your computer and then copy the data.

Method 6. Change the File/Folder Permission

If you are not allowed to take control of the files or folders you attempt to copy, you may get the unspecified error message while copying items from one place to another. To change the permission:

Step 1. Go to the folder that contains the files you want to copy, right-click it and choose «Properties».

Step 2. Switch to the «Security» tab, click your name under «Group or user names» and check its permission.

Step 3. If you need to change the permission, click «Edit», check the permission and click «OK».

After this, you should be able to use your target hard drive partition to copy and save files and folder without any problems now. 

Bonus Tip. Restore Data from Hard Drive Partition with an Unspecified Error While Copying File/Folder

If you have lost important data on the destination hard drive partition or storage device with an unspecified error of copying file or folder, relax. You can directly follow the method here to restore data from the device before or after you start fixing the «Error Copying File or Folder» issue. The powerful EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard — EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard allows you to directly scan and find all existing or lost files on the hard drive, and recover them to another safe location on your PC by simple clicks. You can just download this software and apply it to find and extract data from your current hard drive partition which contains an unspecified error:

Step 1. Run EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard. Choose «Select Folder» under Specify a location. Browse for the location where you lost the folder and click «OK» to scan. 

After this, you should be able to use your target hard drive partition to copy and save files and folder without any problems now. 

Bonus Tip. Restore Data from Hard Drive Partition with an Unspecified Error While Copying File/Folder

If you have lost important data on the destination hard drive partition or storage device with an unspecified error of copying file or folder, relax. You can directly follow the method here to restore data from the device before or after you start fixing the «Error Copying File or Folder» issue. The powerful EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard — EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard allows you to directly scan and find all existing or lost files on the hard drive, and recover them to another safe location on your PC by simple clicks. You can just download this software and apply it to find and extract data from your current hard drive partition which contains an unspecified error:

Step 1. Run EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard. Choose «Select Folder» under Specify a location. Browse for the location where you lost the folder and click «OK» to scan. 

Step 2. You can search for the target folder or use the Filter feature to find a certain type of files in the folder. 

Step 3. You can preview the recovered folder. Then, click «Recover» and choose a new & secure location on your PC to keep the recovered data. 

Step 3. You can preview the recovered folder. Then, click «Recover» and choose a new & secure location on your PC to keep the recovered data. 

The Bottom Line

There are other tips that may fix the unspecified error when you copy files and folder. You can download Windows file and folder troubleshooter and use it to repair file and folder related problems. You can also run the sfc.exe utility to check and repair the errors of your file system. If the methods we detailed fail, apply these two tips to have a try.

Summary: This article will take you through different solutions to fix “Error Copying File or Folder Unspecified Error”, without losing your precious data with Bitwar Data Recovery Software on Windows.

Have you ever come across an error that doesn’t let you copy files or folders from one location to another on Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista or XP? If yes! Then this article will of great help to you.

Obinna has completed B.Tech in Information & Communication Technology. He has worked as a System Support Engineer, primarily on User Endpoint Administration, as well as a Technical Analyst, primarily on Server/System Administration. He also has experience as a Network and Communications Officer. He has been a Windows Insider MVP (2020) and currently owns and runs a Computer Clinic.