Objects: copy
Copies a source object to a destination object. Optionally overrides metadata.
Generally, you should use therewrite method instead of thecopy method: thecopy method uses therewrite method, but calls it exactly once. Larger objects can require multiplerewrite calls, so copy attempts of such objects can lead toPayload too large errors.
copy method or, if you don't specify any ACLs, the default object ACLs of the bucket it is stored in.Required permissions
Theauthenticated user must have the following IAM permissionsto use this method:
storage.objects.createon the destination bucketstorage.objects.deleteon the destination bucket, if overwriting an existing objectstorage.objects.setRetentionon the destination bucket, if the request body includes theretentionpropertystorage.objects.geton the source bucketstorage.objects.createContexton the destination bucket, if the request body includes a non-emptycontexts.customproperty
Request
HTTP request
POST https://storage.googleapis.com/storage/v1/b/sourceBucket/o/sourceObject/copyTo/b/destinationBucket/o/destinationObject
In addition tostandard query parameters, the following query parameters apply to this method.
To see an example of how to include query parameters in a request, see theJSON API Overview page.
Parameters
| Parameter name | Value | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Path parameters | ||
destinationBucket | string | Name of the bucket in which to store the new object. Overrides the provided object metadata'sbucket value, if any. For information about how to URL encode object names to be path safe, seeEncoding URI path parts. |
destinationObject | string | Name of the new object. Required when the object metadata is not otherwise provided. Overrides the object metadata'sname value, if any. |
sourceBucket | string | Name of the bucket in which to find the source object. |
sourceObject | string | Name of the source object. For information about how to URL encode object names to be path safe, seeEncoding URI path parts. |
| Optional query parameters | ||
destinationKmsKeyName | string | Resource name of the Cloud KMS key that will be used to encrypt the object. The Cloud KMS key must be located in same location as the object. If the parameter is not specified, the request uses the destination bucket's default encryption key, if any, or else it usesstandard Cloud Storage encryption. If the object is large, re-encryption with the key may take too long and result in a Deadline exceeded error. For large objects, consider using therewrite method instead. |
destinationPredefinedAcl | string | Apply a predefined set of access controls to the destination object. Acceptable values are:
iamConfiguration.uniformBucketLevelAccess.enabled is set totrue, requests that include this parameter fail with a400 Bad Request response. |
ifGenerationMatch | long | Makes the operation conditional on there being a live destination object with a generation number that matches the given value. SettingifGenerationMatch to 0 makes the operation succeed only if there is no live destination object. |
ifGenerationNotMatch | long | Makes the operation conditional on there being a live destination object with a generation number that does not match the given value. If no live destination object exists, the precondition fails. SettingifGenerationNotMatch to 0 makes the operation succeed if there is a live version of the object. |
ifMetagenerationMatch | long | Makes the operation conditional on there being a live destination object with a metageneration number that matches the given value. |
ifMetagenerationNotMatch | long | Makes the operation conditional on there being a live destination object with a metageneration number that does not match the given value. |
ifSourceGenerationMatch | long | Makes the operation conditional on whether the source object's generation matches the given value. |
ifSourceGenerationNotMatch | long | Makes the operation conditional on whether the source object's generation does not match the given value. |
ifSourceMetagenerationMatch | long | Makes the operation conditional on whether the source object's current metageneration matches the given value. |
ifSourceMetagenerationNotMatch | long | Makes the operation conditional on whether the source object's current metageneration does not match the given value. |
projection | string | Set of properties to return. Defaults tonoAcl, unless the object resource specifies theacl property, when it defaults tofull.Acceptable values are:
|
sourceGeneration | long | If present, selects a specific revision of the source object (as opposed to the latest version, the default). |
| Optional extension headers | ||
X-Goog-Copy-Source-Encryption-Algorithm | string | The encryption algorithm to use, which must beAES256. Used if the source object was encrypted with acustomer-supplied encryption key. |
X-Goog-Copy-Source-Encryption-Key | string | AnRFC 4648 Base64-encoded string of the AES-256 encryption key used to encrypt the source object, if it was encrypted with acustomer-supplied encryption key. |
X-Goog-Copy-Source-Encryption-Key-Sha256 | string | AnRFC 4648 Base64-encoded string of the SHA256 hash of the encryption key used to encrypt the source object, if it was encrypted with acustomer-supplied encryption key. |
X-Goog-Encryption-Algorithm | string | The encryption algorithm to use, which must beAES256. Used for encrypting the destination object with acustomer-supplied encryption key. |
X-Goog-Encryption-Key | string | AnRFC 4648 Base64-encoded string of your AES-256 encryption key. Used for encrypting the destination object with acustomer-supplied encryption key. |
X-Goog-Encryption-Key-Sha256 | string | AnRFC 4648 Base64-encoded string of the SHA256 hash of your encryption key. Used for encrypting the destination object with acustomer-supplied encryption key. |
Request body
In the request body, supply metadata to apply to the destination object by using anobject resource. If the request body is empty,editable metadata from the source object is applied to the destination object, with the exception of any ACLs, object holds, orretention configuration set on the source object. If you want to retain these from the original object, they must be included in the request body.
Response
If successful, this method returns anobject resource in the response body.
For information about status and error codes returned by this API, see thereference page.
Try it!
Use the APIs Explorer below to call this method on live data and see the response.
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Last updated 2025-12-17 UTC.