How to Copy Folders with scp -r (Recursive Copy over SSH)

Applies to: OpenSSH scp on Linux, macOS and Windows 10 and 11

scp copies files between computers over SSH. To copy a whole folder with its subfolders, add -r (recursive). We tested every example below between a Mac and a Ucartz VPS running AlmaLinux 9.

Upload a folder to a server

scp -r site user@server.example.com:/var/www/

This creates /var/www/site on the server, with all files and subfolders (hidden files included).

Download a folder from a server

scp -r user@server.example.com:/var/www/site ./site-backup

Where does the folder end up?

• If the destination folder already exists, the copied folder goes inside it: scp -r site server:/tmp/dest gives /tmp/dest/site.
• If it doesn’t exist, it is created with the new name: the contents of site end up directly in /tmp/dest.
• To copy only the contents into an existing folder, use site/* (this skips hidden files at the top level): scp -r site/* server:/tmp/dest/

Useful options

scp -r -P 2222 site user@server:/var/www/    # SSH on another port (capital P)
scp -rp site user@server:/var/www/           # keep modification times and permissions
scp -r -i ~/.ssh/id_ed25519 site user@server:/var/www/   # use a specific key
scp -r -C site user@server:/var/www/         # compress while copying

Faster and resumable: rsync

scp -r copies everything every time. For large folders or repeated copies, rsync sends only what changed and can resume after a break:

rsync -avz --progress site/ user@server.example.com:/var/www/site/

More: rsync command examples.

Good to know

• Since OpenSSH 9.0, scp uses the SFTP protocol underneath. If a very old server fails, add -O to use the legacy protocol.
• “Permission denied” usually means you can’t write to the destination folder; copy to your home folder first.
• Windows 10 and 11 include scp in PowerShell; WinSCP and FileZilla are graphical alternatives.

To leave some files out, see how to exclude files when copying with scp. For interactive uploads, see the put command in sftp.