You can copy objects between Cloud Storage buckets when you want to reorganize your storage layout or work around immutable bucket properties. For example, you can copy objects to a new bucket to change a bucket's name or transfer workloads across projects. To complete a move, you copy objects from a source bucket to a destination bucket and then delete the original objects. If your primary goal is to store data in a different geographic location, consider using [bucket relocation](https://docs.cloud.google.com/storage/docs/bucket-relocation/overview) instead. ## Overview When you create a bucket, some of the properties you set are permanent and cannot be changed, including the bucket's name and its parent project. If you want to use a new name for your bucket, you can *effectively* do so by [creating a new bucket](https://docs.cloud.google.com/storage/docs/creating-buckets) with the name you want to use, and then copying your objects from the old bucket to the new bucket. You can then [delete](https://docs.cloud.google.com/storage/docs/deleting-buckets) the old bucket. Note the following: - When you delete a bucket, the [bucket's name can be reused](https://docs.cloud.google.com/storage/docs/buckets#considerations). > [!IMPORTANT] > **Important:** If you create a new bucket with the same name as the original bucket but in a different location, requests made to the new bucket might fail with a `404-Bucket Not Found` error for up to 10 minutes after the deletion of the original bucket. For the [XML API](https://docs.cloud.google.com/storage/docs/xml-api), this behavior includes attempts to create the new bucket. - If your primary goal of moving objects from one bucket to another is to store your data in a different [bucket location](https://docs.cloud.google.com/storage/docs/locations), we recommend [directly relocating your bucket](https://docs.cloud.google.com/storage/docs/bucket-relocation/overview). - Moving data between locations incurs [network usage costs](https://docs.cloud.google.com/storage/pricing#network-buckets). In addition, moving data might incur additional charges, depending on the storage classes of the source data and on the location of the destination bucket. For more information, see [Cloud Storage pricing](https://docs.cloud.google.com/storage/pricing). ## Required permissions ### Console In order to complete this guide using the [Google Cloud console](https://docs.cloud.google.com/storage/docs/cloud-console), you must have the proper IAM permissions. If the buckets you want to access exist in a project that you did not create, you might need the project owner to give you a role that contains the necessary permissions. For a list of permissions required for specific actions, see [IAM permissions for the Google Cloud console](https://docs.cloud.google.com/storage/docs/access-control/iam-console). For a list of relevant roles, see [Cloud Storage roles](https://docs.cloud.google.com/storage/docs/access-control/iam-roles). Alternatively, you can [create a custom role](https://docs.cloud.google.com/iam/docs/creating-custom-roles) that has specific, limited permissions. ### Command line In order to complete this guide using a command-line utility, you must have the proper IAM permissions. If the buckets you want to access exist in a project that you did not create, you might need the project owner to give you a role that contains the necessary permissions. For a list of permissions required for specific actions, see [IAM permissions for `gcloud storage` commands](https://docs.cloud.google.com/storage/docs/access-control/iam-gcloud). For a list of relevant roles, see [Cloud Storage roles](https://docs.cloud.google.com/storage/docs/access-control/iam-roles). Alternatively, you can [create a custom role](https://docs.cloud.google.com/iam/docs/creating-custom-roles) that has specific, limited permissions. ### REST APIs ### JSON API In order to complete this guide using the [JSON API](https://docs.cloud.google.com/storage/docs/json_api), you must have the proper IAM permissions. If the buckets you want to access exist in a project that you did not create, you might need the project owner to give you a role that contains the necessary permissions. For a list of permissions required for specific actions, see [IAM permissions for JSON methods](https://docs.cloud.google.com/storage/docs/access-control/iam-json). For a list of relevant roles, see [Cloud Storage roles](https://docs.cloud.google.com/storage/docs/access-control/iam-roles). Alternatively, you can [create a custom role](https://docs.cloud.google.com/iam/docs/creating-custom-roles) that has specific, limited permissions. ## Move data from one bucket to another ### Console Use the [Storage Transfer Service](https://docs.cloud.google.com/storage-transfer) from within Google Cloud console: 1. If you don't have a destination bucket yet, [create the bucket](https://docs.cloud.google.com/storage/docs/creating-buckets). 2. Open the Transfer page in the Google Cloud console. [Open the **Transfer** page](https://console.cloud.google.com/transfer/jobs) 3. Click **Create transfer job**. 4. Follow the step-by-step walkthrough, clicking **Next step** as you complete each step: - Choose a source: Use **Google Cloud Storage bucket** as your source type, and either enter the name of the wanted bucket directly, or click **Browse** to find and select the bucket you want. - Choose a destination: Either enter the name of the wanted bucket directly, or click **Browse** to find and select the bucket you want. - Choose settings: Select the option **Delete files from source after they're transferred**. - Scheduling options: You can ignore this section. 5. After you complete the step-by-step walkthrough, click **Create**. This begins the process of copying objects from your old bucket into your new one. This process may take some time; however, after you click **Create**, you can navigate away from the Google Cloud console. To view the transfer's progress: Open the Transfer page in the Google Cloud console. [Open the **Transfer** page](https://console.cloud.google.com/transfer/jobs)
To learn how to get detailed error information about failed Cloud Storage operations in the Google Cloud console, see [Troubleshooting](https://docs.cloud.google.com/storage/docs/troubleshooting#trouble-console). 6. Once the transfer completes, you don't need to do anything to delete the objects from your old bucket if you selected the **Delete source objects after the transfer completes** checkbox during setup. You may, however, want to also [delete your old bucket](https://docs.cloud.google.com/storage/docs/deleting-buckets), which you must do separately. ### Command line 1. If you don't have one yet, [create a destination bucket](https://docs.cloud.google.com/storage/docs/creating-buckets). 2. To recursively copy the contents of your source bucket to your destination bucket, use the [`gcloud storage cp`](https://docs.cloud.google.com/sdk/gcloud/reference/storage/cp) command with the `--recursive` option: ``` gcloud storage cp --recursive gs://SOURCE_BUCKET/* gs://DESTINATION_BUCKET ``` Where: - `SOURCE_BUCKET` is the name of your original bucket. For example, `old-bucket`. - `DESTINATION_BUCKET` is the name of the bucket you are moving your data to. For example, `my-bucket`. If your bucket uses [managed folders](https://docs.cloud.google.com/storage/docs/managed-folders) and a [flat namespace](https://docs.cloud.google.com/storage/docs/objects#namespace), you must include the flag `--include-managed-folders` in the command for the managed folders to be copied. 3. To recursively delete the contents from the source bucket, along with the source bucket itself, use the [`gcloud storage rm`](https://docs.cloud.google.com/sdk/gcloud/reference/storage/rm) command with the `--recursive` option: ``` gcloud storage rm --recursive gs://SOURCE_BUCKET ``` Where `SOURCE_BUCKET` is the name of your original bucket. For example, `old-bucket`. Alternatively, to delete the contents from the source bucket without deleting the source bucket itself, use the `gcloud storage rm` command with the `--all-versions` flag and `**` wildcard: ``` gcloud storage rm --all-versions gs://SOURCE_BUCKET/** ``` Where `SOURCE_BUCKET` is the name of your original bucket. For example, `old-bucket`. ### REST APIs ### JSON API 1. If you don't have a destination bucket yet, [create the bucket](https://docs.cloud.google.com/storage/docs/creating-buckets). 2. [Copy each object](https://docs.cloud.google.com/storage/docs/copying-renaming-moving-objects#copy) from your source bucket to the destination bucket. 3. [Delete each object](https://docs.cloud.google.com/storage/docs/deleting-objects) in your source bucket. 4. [Delete your source bucket](https://docs.cloud.google.com/storage/docs/deleting-buckets). ### XML API 1. If you don't have a destination bucket yet, [create the bucket](https://docs.cloud.google.com/storage/docs/creating-buckets). 2. [Copy each object](https://docs.cloud.google.com/storage/docs/copying-renaming-moving-objects#copy) from your source bucket to the destination bucket. 3. [Delete each object](https://docs.cloud.google.com/storage/docs/deleting-objects) in your source bucket. 4. [Delete your source bucket](https://docs.cloud.google.com/storage/docs/deleting-buckets). ## What's next - [Copy, rename, or move individual objects](https://docs.cloud.google.com/storage/docs/copying-renaming-moving-objects). - Learn about [available bucket locations](https://docs.cloud.google.com/storage/docs/locations) and [bucket naming guidelines](https://docs.cloud.google.com/storage/docs/buckets#considerations). - Learn more about [creating and managing data transfers with the Google Cloud console](https://docs.cloud.google.com/storage-transfer/docs/create-manage-transfer-console#configure).