Wikipedia:Moving files to Commons

Moving files to Commons is an activity of moving freely licensed files from Wikipedia to the Wikimedia Commons, which serves as the central file repository for all Wikimedia Foundation projects. When our local files are transferred there, they will provide the added benefit of becoming instantly and globally available across all Wikimedia Foundation projects.

Why move files to Commons?

Commons files may be used by any Wikimedia Foundation project, such as Wikipedia, Wikinews, or Wiktionary. Some projects, such as the Simple English Wikipedia, exclusively use files hosted on Commons. A file uploaded to Commons only has to be uploaded and maintained once, as opposed to dozens of times for each individual Wiki.
Commons extensively categorizes files, making it easy to find them across a wide variety of topics.
Commons files are maintained even if they are not immediately used to illustrate articles. Wikipedia, by contrast, is not a file host and therefore does not permit unused files.

Should a file be moved to Commons?

What not to transfer

Tools

There are several software tools available to assist in moving files from the various Wikipedias into commons. Tools that are "web apps" can be run without first being downloaded to your computer.

FileImporter, from our own Wikimedia, is the default and preferred tool.

Only FileImporter can preserve the full page history. MTC! has some additional automation features and admin-only options.

Manual transfer

Save the file to transfer onto your computer and upload it at Commons. Include the following information on the file's Commons description page:

The contents of the local {{Information}} template — Note: Fileinfo generates the upload information text to transfer manually.
The license tag — Note: some templates used locally exist with another name on Commons. For example, {{PD-old}} is {{PD-old-100}} on Commons, and {{PD-old}} on Commons is {{PD-old-70}} on Wikipedia.
A copy of the local upload log — You must state the username of each uploader and the date/time at which the upload was performed. This is a strict requirement for the GFDL and Creative Commons licenses. You are not required to upload previous versions of the file, or mention reverted vandalism/file usurpations.

Once you are finished, please tag Wikipedia's copy of the file with {{subst:Ncd}} or {{subst:Ncd|File:New filename.png}} (if you chose a new name for the Commons file).