# Copying to Another Computer

A shared folder has a network address, a UNC path such as \\\\back-office\\reports, that Test-Path, Get-ChildItem and Copy-Item use like any other path, and where there's no share, Copy-Item -ToSession and -FromSession copy a file through a remoting session made with New-PSSession and closed with Remove-PSSession.

Journeyman · PowerShell · Operating System · Updated November 10, 2026

## After this lesson you can

- Read and use a UNC path such as \\\\back-office\\reports with Test-Path, Get-ChildItem and Copy-Item
- Copy a file to or from another computer through a session with New-PSSession, Copy-Item -ToSession or -FromSession, and Remove-PSSession

## Key takeaways

- A shared folder's address is a UNC path: two backslashes, the computer's name, then the share's name, such as \\back-office\reports.
- Test-Path, Get-ChildItem and Copy-Item work on a UNC path like any other path. Test-Path first, so a script can say plainly when the share can't be reached.
- With no shared folder, open a session with New-PSSession, copy with Copy-Item -ToSession (there) or -FromSession (back), and close it with Remove-PSSession.
- Through a session, the path on the far side is a path on that computer, such as C:\Reports, not on yours.

Every Friday the front-desk PC makes the office's weekly report, and the owner reads it at the back-office PC. Today someone emails it across, or carries it on a USB stick, and on the Friday they're out sick, nobody does. Copying a file to another computer is one `Copy-Item` away, once you know how to write where the other computer is. There are two ways: through a **shared folder**, or through a remoting session.

This lesson uses a practice folder with the weekly report in it:

```powershell
New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force -Path "$HOME\terminal-practice\office" | Out-Null
Set-Content -Path "$HOME\terminal-practice\office\weekly-report.txt" -Value 'Weekly report: 14 orders, 2 returns'
Set-Location "$HOME\terminal-practice\office"
```

## A shared folder's address: UNC paths

A shared folder is like the mail tray on the back-office desk that anyone in the office may drop papers into. On Windows, someone right-clicks a folder, chooses to share it with people on the network, and gives the share a name, such as `reports`. Its address is a **UNC path** (Universal Naming Convention):

```text
\\back-office\reports\weekly-report.txt
```

Read it from the left: two backslashes (read "backslash backslash") say "another computer"; then the computer's name, `back-office`; then the share's name, `reports`; then folders and files inside it, as on any drive. File Explorer goes to the same place if you type it into its address bar.

A UNC path is a path like any other, so the file commands you know take it as it is. Before copying, look:

```powershell
Test-Path -Path '\\localhost\office-share'
```

```text
False
```

Your own PC is `localhost`, and it has no share called `office-share`, so the answer is False. `Get-ChildItem -Path '\\localhost\office-share'` says the same thing in red: *Cannot find path '\\localhost\office-share' because it does not exist.* On a real network, that same message means one of three things: the PC is off, the share's name is wrong, or your account isn't allowed in.

## Copy to a share, safely

When the share is there, copying to it is the `Copy-Item` you know, with the UNC path as the destination. (Not run here: there's no back-office PC.)

```powershell
Copy-Item -Path .\weekly-report.txt -Destination '\\back-office\reports\'
```

In a script that runs every Friday, check first, so a missing share gives a plain message instead of a wall of red:

```powershell
$share = '\\localhost\office-share'
if (Test-Path -Path $share) {
    Copy-Item -Path .\weekly-report.txt -Destination $share
} else {
    Write-Warning "Can't reach $share. Is that PC on, and is the folder shared?"
}
```

```text
WARNING: Can't reach \\localhost\office-share. Is that PC on, and is the folder shared?
```

A share you use every day can get a drive name of its own: `New-PSDrive -Name Reports -PSProvider FileSystem -Root '\\back-office\reports'` lets you write `Reports:\weekly-report.txt` until you close the window.

## No share? Copy through a session

Sometimes there's no shared folder, and nobody wants one: the owner keeps the reports in `C:\Reports` on back-office, shared with no one. If remoting is on there (*PowerShell Remoting: Invoke-Command and Enter-PSSession*), copy through a **session**, a connection to the other computer that stays open so several commands can use it. `New-PSSession` opens it, and you keep it in a variable:

```powershell
$session = New-PSSession -ComputerName back-office
Copy-Item -Path .\weekly-report.txt -Destination 'C:\Reports\' -ToSession $session
Copy-Item -Path 'C:\Reports\printer-log.txt' -Destination . -FromSession $session
Remove-PSSession -Session $session
```

Line by line: open a session to back-office; copy the report **to** it; copy a log **from** it into the folder you're in (`.`); close the session. The path on the far side is a path on that computer, so `C:\Reports\` means back-office's C: drive, not yours. Folders need `-Recurse`, as always. Close the session when you're done, because each one keeps a PowerShell running on the other PC.

The same session works for `Invoke-Command -Session $session` and `Enter-PSSession -Session $session`, so a script can copy a file over and then run it there, with one connection. (These aren't run here, since remoting is off on this PC.)

## Which way?

- **A shared folder** suits files that people share every day: anyone with permission reaches it from File Explorer or PowerShell, and the share decides who may read or change it.
- **A session** suits an administrator's one-off job on a PC with no share, and it needs remoting turned on there.

**On a Mac or Linux**, `-ToSession` and `-FromSession` work the same with a session opened over SSH (`New-PSSession -HostName`), but UNC paths are for Windows: a Mac opens a share from Finder (*Go*, then *Connect to Server*, `smb://back-office/reports`), and it appears as a folder under `/Volumes`. Windows PowerShell 5.1 has `-ToSession` and UNC paths too.

## Check yourself

2 questions to try on the lesson page.

## So what

The other computer is one path away: `\\back-office\reports` when there's a share, `-ToSession` when there isn't, and a `Test-Path` first so a missing PC gets a plain message.

## Key terms

- [UNC Path](https://www.ask-codey.com/glossary/unc-path)
- [Shared Folder](https://www.ask-codey.com/glossary/shared-folder)
- [PSSession](https://www.ask-codey.com/glossary/pssession)
- [Copy-Item](https://www.ask-codey.com/glossary/copy-item)

## Cheat sheets

- [Copying to Another Computer](https://www.ask-codey.com/cheat-sheets/powershell-copy-to-session-cheat-sheet)

## Related

- [PowerShell Remoting: Invoke-Command and Enter-PSSession](https://www.ask-codey.com/lessons/powershell-remoting)
- [Copy and Move: Copy-Item and Move-Item](https://www.ask-codey.com/lessons/powershell-copy-and-move)
- [Is It the Network? Test-Connection and Friends](https://www.ask-codey.com/lessons/powershell-network-checks)

Source: https://www.ask-codey.com/lessons/powershell-copy-to-session