Node fs.copyFile() Function

Last Updated : 10 Apr, 2025

The fs.copyFile() method in Node.js is used to copy a file from a source path to a destination path. By default, Node.js will overwrite the file at the destination if it already exists. You can modify the behavior of the copy operation using an optional mode parameter.

Syntax:

fs.copyFile( src, dest, mode, callback )

Parameters: This method accepts three parameters as mentioned above and described below:

src: It is a String, Buffer, or URL that denotes the source filename to copy.
dest: It is a String, Buffer, or URL that denotes the destination filename that the copy operation would create.
mode: It is an integer that specifies the behavior of the copy operation. The values can be given predefined constants that have their respective behaviours:
- fs.constants.COPYFILE_EXCL: This constant specifies that the copy operation would fail if the destination filename already exists.
- fs.constants.COPYFILE_FICLONE: This constant specifies that the copy operation would try to create a copy-on-write reflink. A fallback mechanism is used if the platform does not support copy-on-write.
- fs.constants.COPYFILE_FICLONE_FORCE: This constant specifies that the copy operation would try to create a copy-on-write reflink. The operation would fail if the platform does not support copy-on-write, unlike the previous one.

These constants can also be combined with bitwise OR to create a mask of more than one value. It is an optional parameter. The default value of the parameter is 0.

callback: It is a function that would be called when the method is executed.
- err: It is an error that would be thrown if the method fails.

Below examples illustrate the fs.copyFile() method in Node.js:

Example 1: This example shows the copy operation of the “example_file.txt” file to “copied_file.txt” file.

JavaScript

// Node.js program to demonstrate the // fs.copyFile() method  // Import the filesystem module const fs = require('fs');  // Get the current filenames // before the function getCurrentFilenames(); console.log("\nFile Contents of example_file:",     fs.readFileSync("example_file.txt", "utf8"));  // Copying the file to a the same name fs.copyFile("example_file.txt", "copied_file.txt", (err) => {     if (err) {         console.log("Error Found:", err);     }     else {          // Get the current filenames         // after the function         getCurrentFilenames();         console.log("\nFile Contents of copied_file:",             fs.readFileSync("copied_file.txt", "utf8"));     } });  // Function to get current filenames // in directory function getCurrentFilenames() {     console.log("\nCurrent filenames:");     fs.readdirSync(__dirname).forEach(file => {         console.log(file);     }); }

Output:

Current filenames:
example_file.txt
index.js
File Contents of example_file: This is a test file.
Current filenames:
copied_file.txt
example_file.txt
index.js
File Contents of copied_file: This is a test file.

Example 2: This example shows the failure of the copy operation when the destination already exists.

JavaScript

// Node.js program to demonstrate the // fs.copyFile() method  // Import the filesystem module const fs = require('fs');  // Get the current filenames // before the function getCurrentFilenames(); console.log("\nFile Contents of example_file:",        fs.readFileSync("example_file.txt", "utf8"));  // Copying the file to a the same name fs.copyFile("example_file.txt", "copied_file.txt",        fs.constants.COPYFILE_EXCL, (err) => {   if (err) {     console.log("Error Found:", err);   }   else {      // Get the current filenames     // after the function     getCurrentFilenames();     console.log("\nFile Contents of copied_file:",       fs.readFileSync("copied_file.txt", "utf8"));   } });  // Function to get current filenames // in directory function getCurrentFilenames() {   console.log("\nCurrent filenames:");   fs.readdirSync(__dirname).forEach(file => {     console.log(file);   }); }

Output:

Current filenames:
copied_file.txt
example_file.txt
index.js
File Contents of example_file: This is a test file.
Error: [Error: EEXIST: file already exists, copyfile 
  'G:\tutorials\nodejs-fs-copyFile\example_file.txt' -> 
  'G:\tutorials\nodejs-fs-copyFile\copied_file.txt'] {
  errno: -4075,
  code: 'EEXIST',
  syscall: 'copyfile',
  path: 'G:\\tutorials\\nodejs-fs-copyFile\\example_file.txt',
  dest: 'G:\\tutorials\\nodejs-fs-copyFile\\copied_file.txt'
}

We have a Cheat Sheet on Node fs modules where we covered all the fs methods to check those please go through Node File System Module Complete Reference this article.

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