![\"move](\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/copy-files-single-directory-flatten-1.png\")
<\/p>\nWhen importing photos from your camera or SD card via AutoPlay dialog using the Photos app, many sub-folders (month and year-wise) are created in the destination folder, which may not be what you wanted. Here is a step-by-step guide that explains how to move all files recursively from multiple subfolders to a single folder of your choice.<\/p>\n
For example, here is how it gets imported when using the Photos app.<\/p>\n
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The mobile phones and cameras also may store your photos in many subfolders under the For instance, in Apple iPhone, your photos and videos are stored in the 100APPLE folder under Copying the files from each subfolder to a single folder on your hard disk manually can be a tiresome task, especially if you have a large number of folders. However, you don’t need to dig into every folder to do that, as there are several ways to quickly copy or move files from all the subfolders to a single folder — i.e., flatten a directory structure.<\/p>\n You can copy or move files from sub-folders to a single folder using at least three different built-in ways in Windows. This procedure is also known as flattening a directory structure. Follow one of the three methods, whichever one you find easy.<\/p>\n Scenario:<\/strong> Let’s copy all files from the This recursively copies all files in the If a file of the same name exists in the destination, you’ll be asked if you want to overwrite or skip the file.<\/p>\n Note:<\/strong> It’s always safe to include the trailing backslash ( The Libraries feature, first introduced in Windows 7, is also available in subsequent versions, including Windows 10. Libraries are virtual containers for users’ content. A library can contain files and folders stored on the local computer or in a remote storage location. Windows libraries are similar to “Saved Search” and are backed by full content search and rich metadata.<\/p>\n You can aggregate content from multiple storage locations into a single, unified view using Libraries. Let’s use the Libraries feature in Windows to flatten a directory structure.<\/p>\n Let’s say we have a folder structure like this:<\/p>\n Under each folder, we have several photos imported from the camera. To flatten the Camera directory structure and consolidate all images in a single folder, follow these steps:<\/p>\n Next, we’ll see how to accomplish the same using Windows Search in Method 3 below.<\/p>\n Using Windows Search is another easy way to flatten a directory structure if you don’t prefer the command-line.<\/p>\n A note about the above search query:<\/strong><\/p>\n Yes. You can use 7-Zip<\/a> is not just a compression utility, but it also has file management capabilities that can be useful for other purposes. 7-Zip supports the “Flat View<\/a>” feature that can help us quickly locate files in multiple subfolders, or copy them to a different location.<\/p>\n That’s it. The selected files are copied to the selected folder (flattened.)<\/p>\n Note that you can also enable the “2 Panels” view via 7-Zip’s View menu and copy the files by dragging to the desired folder in the right pane. You must make sure to press the If you’re using the Total Commander<\/a> file manager software, you can flatten a directory structure easily.<\/p>\n That’s it. This copies or moves all the files in the source directory tree to the target folder (flattened).<\/p>\n Important<\/u>:<\/strong> Windows Search may not list<\/a> every file in search results in some cases, either due to indexing issues or if the “Temporary” attribute is set for a file. It’s prudent to ensure that there are no files left behind at the source location, before clearing out those folders.<\/p>\nDCIM<\/code> folder.<\/p>\nDCIM<\/code>. The 100APPLE<\/code> folder contains IMG_0001.JPG to IMG_0999.JPG. If you have more images or videos, then they’re stored in 101APPLE<\/code> , 102APPLE<\/code> directory, and so forth. If you’re using iCloud to store photos and videos, you\u2019ll also see the folders namely, 100CLOUD<\/code>, 101CLOUD<\/code>, and so on.<\/p>\n![\"iphone](\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/iphone-dcim.png\")
<\/p>\n\nFlattening a directory structure<\/h4>\n
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RELATED:<\/strong> How to Copy Folder Structure without Copying the Files<\/a><\/div>\n<\/a>Move or Copy Files in Subfolders to a Single Folder<\/h2>\n
<\/a>Method 1: Using Command-line<\/h3>\n
d:\\vacation snaps\\2016<\/code> folder and sub-folders to the d:\\all snaps<\/code> folder recursively.<\/em><\/p>\n\n
md \"d:\\all snaps\"\r\ncd \/d \"d:\\vacation snaps\\2016\"\r\nfor \/r %d in (*) do copy \"%d\" \"d:\\all snaps\\\"<\/pre>\n
d:\\vacation snaps\\2016\\<\/code> folder to the d:\\all snaps\\<\/code> folder. To move the files, replace copy<\/code> with move<\/code><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\\<\/code>) after the destination folder path, as in the above example. Because, without the trailing slash, if the destination path is missing and you run the command, then the files in the folder and subfolders are copied and combined into one single file named all snaps<\/code> to D:\\<\/code> drive.<\/em><\/p>\n
\n<\/a>Method 2: Using the Libraries feature in Windows<\/h3>\n
D:\\PHOTOS\r\n\u2514\u2500\u2500\u2500Camera\r\n \u251c\u2500\u2500\u25002018-01\r\n \u251c\u2500\u2500\u25002018-02\r\n \u251c\u2500\u2500\u25002018-04\r\n \u251c\u2500\u2500\u25002018-05\r\n \u2514\u2500\u2500\u25002018-07<\/pre>\n
![\"Copy](\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/flatten-directory-library-1.png\")
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\n![\"Move](\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/move_files_2.png\")
<\/li>\n![\"Copy](\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/flatten-directory-library-2.png\")
\nA new library is created with the same name as the folder.<\/li>\n
\n<\/strong>![\"Copy](\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/flatten-directory-library-3.png\")
<\/li>\n
\n![\"Copy](\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/flatten-directory-library-4.png\")
\n![\"Copy](\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/flatten-directory-library-5.png\")
\nThe files in the Camera folder and its subfolders are now copied\/moved to the destination; the folders remain.![\"Copy](\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/flatten-directory-library-6.png\")
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\n<\/a>Method 3: Using Windows Search<\/h3>\n
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\n<\/li>\n*.* NOT type:\"file folder\"<\/pre>\n
\nWe’re using the NOT<\/code> operator to prevent Windows search from listing the file-system folders (directories<\/strong>) — as we’re only going to copy or move the files and not the folders themselves.<\/div>\n\n
*.* NOT \"file folder\"<\/code> works only on indexed locations<\/strong>. If your source folder location is not indexed, then use *.*<\/code><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n*.*<\/code> (which will list folders in search results). If so, when you reach Step 8, you’ll need to select all files leaving out the folders shown.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"move](\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/copy-files-single-directory-flatten-2.png\")
<\/li>\n![\"move](\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/copy-files-single-directory-flatten-3.png\")
<\/li>\n![\"move](\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/copy-files-single-directory-flatten-4.png\")
<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
\n<\/a>Method 4: Using 7-Zip<\/h3>\n
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\n![\"7-zip](\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/7zip-flat-view.png\")
<\/li>\n
\n![\"7-zip](\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/7zip-flat-view-2.png\")
<\/li>\nCtrl<\/code> key while dragging. Or else, the files will be moved<\/strong> to the target location instead. Pressing the\u00a0 Ctrl<\/code> key ensures the drag operation is “copy<\/strong>.“<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n
\n<\/a>Method 4: Using Total Commander<\/h3>\n
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\n![\"total](\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/tc-flatten-dir-0.png\")
<\/li>\n
\n![\"total](\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/tc-flatten-dir-1.png\")
<\/li>\n
\n![\"total](\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/tc-flatten-dir-2.png\")
<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/a>Making sure every file has been moved successfully<\/h2>\n
![\"move](\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/copy-files-single-directory-flatten-5.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"move](\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/copy-files-single-directory-flatten-6.png\")
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