How to replace a file in multiple folders at once

You have a new logo.png, config.ini or template, and the old one sits in 40 different subfolders. File Explorer and Finder can't do this in one go, but a one-line command can. Here's how, on Windows, Mac and Linux, with a preview and a backup.

Before you run anything

• See how many copies there are before replacing any. Each method below starts with a command that only lists them.
• Same name doesn't mean same file. index.html, config.ini and cover.jpg live in many folders for good reasons. Check the list and make sure every copy should really change.
• Make a backup. Overwriting is instant and there's no undo. The commands below include a backup step.
• Keep the new file outside the folder you're updating, or the command will try to copy it onto itself.

Windows: PowerShell

Open PowerShell. First, list every copy:

Get-ChildItem -Path "C:\Projects" -Recurse -Filter "logo.png"

Back each one up as logo.png.bak, next to the original:

Get-ChildItem -Path "C:\Projects" -Recurse -Filter "logo.png" | ForEach-Object { Copy-Item $_.FullName "$($_.FullName).bak" }

Do a dry run. -WhatIf prints what would happen without changing anything:

Get-ChildItem -Path "C:\Projects" -Recurse -Filter "logo.png" | ForEach-Object { Copy-Item "C:\New\logo.png" $_.FullName -WhatIf }

If the list looks right, run it again without -WhatIf. Add -Force if some copies are read-only.

Windows: Command Prompt

for /r "C:\Projects" %f in (logo.png) do @if exist "%f" copy /y "C:\New\logo.png" "%f"

This walks every folder under C:\Projects and copies over logo.png wherever one exists. In a .bat file, write %%f instead of %f. There's no dry run, so back up first.

Mac and Linux

List every copy:

find ~/Projects -type f -name 'logo.png'

Back each one up as logo.png.bak:

find ~/Projects -type f -name 'logo.png' -exec cp {} {}.bak \;

Replace them all:

find ~/Projects -type f -name 'logo.png' -exec cp -v ~/New/logo.png {} \;

Use -iname instead of -name to match Logo.PNG and other capitalizations too.

Copying a file into every folder, where it isn't yet

If you want the file added to every subfolder, not just the ones that already have it, copy it into each folder instead. In PowerShell:

Get-ChildItem -Path "C:\Projects" -Directory -Recurse | ForEach-Object { Copy-Item "C:\New\readme.txt" $_.FullName }

On Mac and Linux:

find ~/Projects -type d -exec cp ~/New/readme.txt {} \;

A whole set of files, not just one

One file is easy. Fifty updated files, each in its own place in a big folder tree, is where these commands get messy. You have to loop over every name, avoid same-named files that shouldn't change, and decide what happens with files that don't exist yet.

If your new files are in the same folder layout as the destination, the command-line copy tools can update only files that already exist: robocopy with /XL on Windows, or rsync --existing on Mac and Linux. Both need the paths to line up exactly. BulkFileReplace vs robocopy and rsync compares them.

What can go wrong

• A copy that should have stayed different gets replaced, because it had the same name.
• Files in use or read-only fail partway through, leaving some copies old and some new.
• Synced folders (OneDrive, Dropbox, Google Drive) send every overwrite to all your devices. Their version history may save you; check before relying on it.
• No undo, other than the .bak files, if you made them.

With a preview and undo: BulkFileReplace

BulkFileReplace does this for one file or hundreds, on Windows and Linux:

1. Drop your new files (loose, a folder or a ZIP) and choose the folder to update.
2. It matches by path first, then by name, across every subfolder.
3. When a name matches more than one place, it asks. Those files are never picked for you: tick the locations to update, then Done.
4. Review the whole list (Replace, Add, No change) with previews of images and text, then Apply.
5. Undo any run from History. Every original is backed up first.

Two new files aimed at the same file (say, a settings.ini from a folder and a loose one) are flagged too, so you pick which one wins.

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