MoveFileExA function (winbase.h)

Article
06/01/2023

Moves an existing file or directory, including its children, with various move options.

The MoveFileWithProgress function is equivalent to the MoveFileEx function, except that MoveFileWithProgress allows you to provide a callback function that receives progress notifications.

To perform this operation as a transacted operation, use the MoveFileTransacted function.

Syntax

BOOL MoveFileExA(
  [in]           LPCSTR lpExistingFileName,
  [in, optional] LPCSTR lpNewFileName,
  [in]           DWORD  dwFlags
);

Parameters

[in] lpExistingFileName

The current name of the file or directory on the local computer.

If dwFlags specifies MOVEFILE_DELAY_UNTIL_REBOOT, the file cannot exist on a remote share, because delayed operations are performed before the network is available.

By default, the name is limited to MAX_PATH characters. To extend this limit to 32,767 wide characters, prepend "\\?\" to the path. For more information, see Naming Files, Paths, and Namespaces.

Tip

Starting with Windows 10, Version 1607, you can opt-in to remove the MAX_PATH limitation without prepending "\\?\". See the "Maximum Path Length Limitation" section of Naming Files, Paths, and Namespaces for details.

[in, optional] lpNewFileName

The new name of the file or directory on the local computer.

When moving a file, the destination can be on a different file system or volume. If the destination is on another drive, you must set the MOVEFILE_COPY_ALLOWED flag in dwFlags.

When moving a directory, the destination must be on the same drive.

If dwFlags specifies MOVEFILE_DELAY_UNTIL_REBOOT and lpNewFileName is NULL, MoveFileEx registers the lpExistingFileName file to be deleted when the system restarts. If lpExistingFileName refers to a directory, the system removes the directory at restart only if the directory is empty.

By default, the name is limited to MAX_PATH characters. To extend this limit to 32,767 wide characters, prepend "\\?\" to the path. For more information, see Naming Files, Paths, and Namespaces.

Tip

[in] dwFlags

This parameter can be one or more of the following values.

Value	Meaning
MOVEFILE_COPY_ALLOWED 2 (0x2)	If the file is to be moved to a different volume, the function simulates the move by using the CopyFile and DeleteFile functions. If the file is successfully copied to a different volume and the original file is unable to be deleted, the function succeeds leaving the source file intact. This value cannot be used with MOVEFILE_DELAY_UNTIL_REBOOT.
MOVEFILE_CREATE_HARDLINK 16 (0x10)	Reserved for future use.
MOVEFILE_DELAY_UNTIL_REBOOT 4 (0x4)	The system does not move the file until the operating system is restarted. The system moves the file immediately after AUTOCHK is executed, but before creating any paging files. Consequently, this parameter enables the function to delete paging files from previous startups. This value can be used only if the process is in the context of a user who belongs to the administrators group or the LocalSystem account. This value cannot be used with MOVEFILE_COPY_ALLOWED.
MOVEFILE_FAIL_IF_NOT_TRACKABLE 32 (0x20)	The function fails if the source file is a link source, but the file cannot be tracked after the move. This situation can occur if the destination is a volume formatted with the FAT file system.
MOVEFILE_REPLACE_EXISTING 1 (0x1)	If a file named lpNewFileName exists, the function replaces its contents with the contents of the lpExistingFileName file, provided that security requirements regarding access control lists (ACLs) are met. For more information, see the Remarks section of this topic. If lpNewFileName names an existing directory, an error is reported.
MOVEFILE_WRITE_THROUGH 8 (0x8)	The function does not return until the file is actually moved on the disk. Setting this value guarantees that a move performed as a copy and delete operation is flushed to disk before the function returns. The flush occurs at the end of the copy operation. This value has no effect if MOVEFILE_DELAY_UNTIL_REBOOT is set.

Return value

If the function succeeds, the return value is nonzero.

If the function fails, the return value is zero (0). To get extended error information, call GetLastError.

Remarks

If the dwFlags parameter specifies MOVEFILE_DELAY_UNTIL_REBOOT, MoveFileEx fails if it cannot access the registry. The function stores the locations of the files to be renamed at restart in the following registry value: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\PendingFileRenameOperations

This registry value is of type REG_MULTI_SZ. Each rename operation stores one of the following NULL-terminated strings, depending on whether the rename is a delete or not:

szDstFile\0\0
szSrcFile\0szDstFile\0

The string szDstFile\0\0 indicates that the file szDstFile is to be deleted on reboot. The string szSrcFile\0szDstFile\0 indicates that szSrcFile is to be renamed szDstFile on reboot.

Note Although \0\0 is technically not allowed in a REG_MULTI_SZ node, it can because the file is considered to be renamed to a null name.

The system uses these registry entries to complete the operations at restart in the same order that they were issued. For example, the following code fragment creates registry entries that delete szDstFile and rename szSrcFile to be szDstFile at restart:

MoveFileEx(szDstFile, NULL, MOVEFILE_DELAY_UNTIL_REBOOT);
MoveFileEx(szSrcFile, szDstFile, MOVEFILE_DELAY_UNTIL_REBOOT);

Because the actual move and deletion operations specified with the MOVEFILE_DELAY_UNTIL_REBOOT flag take place after the calling application has ceased running, the return value cannot reflect success or failure in moving or deleting the file. Rather, it reflects success or failure in placing the appropriate entries into the registry.

The system deletes a directory that is tagged for deletion with the MOVEFILE_DELAY_UNTIL_REBOOT flag only if it is empty. To ensure deletion of directories, move or delete all files from the directory before attempting to delete it. Files may be in the directory at boot time, but they must be deleted or moved before the system can delete the directory.

The move and deletion operations are carried out at boot time in the same order that they are specified in the calling application. To delete a directory that has files in it at boot time, first delete the files.

If a file is moved across volumes, MoveFileEx does not move the security descriptor with the file. The file is assigned the default security descriptor in the destination directory.

The MoveFileEx function coordinates its operation with the link tracking service, so link sources can be tracked as they are moved.

To delete or rename a file, you must have either delete permission on the file or delete child permission in the parent directory. If you set up a directory with all access except delete and delete child and the ACLs of new files are inherited, then you should be able to create a file without being able to delete it. However, you can then create a file, and get all the access you request on the handle that is returned to you at the time that you create the file. If you request delete permission at the time you create the file, you can delete or rename the file with that handle but not with any other handle. For more information, see File Security and Access Rights.

In Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012, this function is supported by the following technologies.

Technology	Supported
Server Message Block (SMB) 3.0 protocol	Yes
SMB 3.0 Transparent Failover (TFO)	Yes
SMB 3.0 with Scale-out File Shares (SO)	Yes
Cluster Shared Volume File System (CsvFS)	Yes
Resilient File System (ReFS)	Yes

Examples

For an example, see Creating and Using a Temporary File.

Requirements

Requirement	Value
Minimum supported client	Windows XP [desktop apps \| UWP apps]
Minimum supported server	Windows Server 2003 [desktop apps \| UWP apps]
Target Platform	Windows
Header	winbase.h (include Windows.h)
Library	Kernel32.lib
DLL	Kernel32.dll