Copy

Use this dialog box to copy selected files and directories from the source panel into the destination directory.

Dialog Box Options

Copy to
Contains the path to the destination directory. It can be full or relative disk path, archive path, or plugin file system path. This area is initialized with the path in the target panel, but you can change it to any other directory (e.g. you can pack files into an archive even if the archive is not opened in the target panel). You can use the operation mask to change copied filenames. Use the drop-down list to select a previously used destination directory.
Browse Menu (click the button behind the Copy to field)
Use the Browse item to display the Browse dialog box, where you can select the destination directory. Use the Left/Right Panel Path item to set the destination directory to the directory currently opened in the left/right panel. You can also set the destination directory to any Hot Path by using the Hot Paths items on this menu.
Options
Use this button to show or hide operation options. See these options below. For faster access, you can use shortcut keys even when the options are hidden. For example, use Alt+S to show the options and turn on Speed limit (note that shortcut keys for options are underlined when you press the Alt key). Use the button drop-down menu to save the current options as defaults (or to reset options and defaults). The defaults will be used the next time you open this dialog box.
Wait until all other Copy/Move operations are finished
When checked, the operation is paused until all previous Copy/Move operations are finished (or canceled). Otherwise, the operation starts immediately. Use this option to process operations in a simple queue. It is recommended to use this option if source or destination directories of operations are on the same disk. If you start all operations simultaneously, the disk must seek among all currently read and written files, which slows down all operations.
Overwrite older and skip other existing files without asking
When checked, all older existing files will be overwritten and all other existing files will be skipped (not overwritten) without any prompt. Otherwise you will get the Overwrite prompt, where you can decide whether to overwrite the file or skip it (see File overwrite in Configuration/Confirmations). Use this option as a simple synchronization of two directories: copy only newer and non-existing files.
Speed limit
When checked, files will be copied with the specified speed limit. Set the speed limit in bytes, kilobytes, megabytes, or gigabytes per second (B/s, KB/s, MB/s, or GB/s). Otherwise, files will be copied without speed limit.
Preserve Archive, Compressed, and Encrypted attributes
When checked, the target files and directories will have the same set of Archive, Compressed, and Encrypted attributes as the source files and directories. Otherwise attributes of files and directories moved within a single drive (they are just renamed) are not changed and Archive attribute will be added and Compressed and Encrypted attributes will be inherited from the destination directory for all other copied or moved files and directories (except when copying Encrypted files and directories, Encrypted attribute will be kept, so they cannot inherit Compressed attribute, see Compressing and Encrypting of Files and Directories for details).
Preserve owners and permissions (not inherited) on NTFS drives
When checked, owners and permissions (not inherited) are copied from source to destination files and directories on NTFS drives. Otherwise owners and permissions of files and directories moved within a single drive (they are just renamed) are not changed and for all other files and directories the default owners and permissions (system sets them when file or directory is created) are used.
Preserve dates and times of directories
When checked, dates and times of directories are copied from source to destination directories. Otherwise dates and times are not set on directories (current time is used).
Ignore alternate data streams (ADS)
When checked, the Copy/Move operation ignores alternate data streams (ADS) of copied or moved files and directories. Otherwise, ADS are copied or moved with files and directories as usual. Use this option to remove unwanted ADS from copied files and directories. When you move files within one disk volume, they are just renamed, so ADS will not be removed in that case. Use this option also when you know the copied or moved files and directories do not contain ADS and you are copying or moving from a slow network drive (e.g. over a virtual private network - VPN); it can speed up the operation drastically because detecting ADS for all copied or moved files and directories is very slow. Two examples of ADS use follow. Internet Explorer stores zone information in the ADS of every file downloaded from the Internet, so downloaded files can later be identified and additional warnings can be displayed. Windows Explorer stores file summary information (title, subject, author, etc.) in ADS; see the Summary tab in Properties.
Only files (prevent creating of empty directories)
When checked, destination directories are created only if they will contain some files. Otherwise all source directories are copied or moved to destination directories.
Files named
When checked, only files matching the specified file mask are copied or moved. Otherwise this option is ignored.
Advanced
Click this button to display the Advanced Options dialog box. You can set advanced options for copied or moved files. For example, you can process only files modified within one hour (files not older than one hour). See Only files (prevent creating of empty directories) option above to get rid of empty directories.

See Also

Copying Files and Directories

From the Sally manual (GPL-2.0-or-later), © 1997-2023 Open Salamander Authors; © 2025-2026 Elias Bachaalany. Source: manual source (zip) · original page in the Sally repository