How do I copy (duplicate) a file on Android?

Last reviewed: October 15, 2026 · Markdown version

Select the file in your file manager, choose Copy rather than Move, open the folder where the copy should go, and confirm. In Files by Google the buttons are More › Copy to and then Copy here; Samsung's My Files uses Copy and Copy here. The original is not touched. Copying into the same folder, which is usually what "duplicate" means, gets its own section below.

Files by Google

Google has two short articles, one per destination. Both start the same way: open a category or Internal storage, press and hold the file (or tap More beside it in list view), and tap Copy to. For several files, press and hold one, then "tap the circle" on each of the others.

Into a folder you already have: "Choose the folder you want to copy the file to", then tap Copy here (Copy files to an existing folder in Internal storage, Files by Google Help, read 15 October 2026).
Into a new folder: tap Internal storage, "Choose where you want to create a new folder, then tap Add new folder", type the name and tap Copy to folder (Copy files to a new folder in Internal storage, Files by Google Help, read 15 October 2026).

Samsung My Files

Samsung's guide defines the two verbs side by side: "Tap Copy to create a copy of the files in a different storage area. Or, tap Move to completely remove the file from its current location and move it to a new location." After choosing Copy, you pick a destination (internal storage, an SD card, Google Drive, OneDrive or network storage) and finish with Copy here. Two limits sit on the same page: "You cannot move or copy files to other apps, such as Gallery", and "Encrypted music or other purchases cannot be moved to external storage" (Manage files on your Galaxy phone or tablet, Samsung US, read 15 October 2026).

A second copy in the same folder

Here the help runs out. Both Google articles describe copying into another folder, and neither says whether the same folder can be picked as the destination or what happens when a file of that name is already there; they are silent on both (the two Files by Google pages above). Samsung's guide is silent on name clashes too (the Samsung page above). So do not count on a predictable (1) suffix. Our suggestion: copy into a new folder, rename the copy there, then move it back if you want both side by side. That way you choose the name instead of discovering it.

When copying is the right call

These are our suggestions, not a vendor's. Copy before you edit a document you might want back unchanged. Copy to an SD card or Drive before you delete anything from the phone, then open the copy to check it before deleting the original. And when a large transfer between two storage areas matters, remember that a move across them is a copy followed by a delete anyway; why the order of those two steps decides what an interruption costs you.

The copies you forget about

Copies made "just in case" are how a phone ends up holding the same video more than once. Files by Google has a card for that pile: under Menu › Clean, the "Duplicate files" card opens a list where "The original file is marked with an “Original” badge", and Google recommends you keep it; what you select goes through Move x file(s) to Trash (Delete duplicate files, Files by Google Help, read 15 October 2026). More on finding duplicates.

Adinand Auto File Sorter and duplicate copies

The app does not make copies for you, but its free duplicate finder deals with the leftovers. It counts two files as duplicates only when their contents are byte-identical, checked by a content hash; a matching size alone never decides, and it does not look for photos that merely look alike. One copy is always kept, and the copies you clean go to a trash folder where they "can be put back for 7 days". It needs Android 11 or newer. When the app sorts, it moves rather than copies: each move is a copy, a check, and only then removal of the original, and a different file that would clash with an existing name arrives as name (1).ext instead of overwriting it.