diff --git a/fiftyone/core/storage.py b/fiftyone/core/storage.py
index 236c32f1f7..e4a9467d4a 100644
--- a/fiftyone/core/storage.py
+++ b/fiftyone/core/storage.py
@@ -207,7 +207,7 @@ def open_files(paths, mode="r", skip_failures=False, progress=None):
         a list of open file-like objects
     """
     tasks = [(p, mode, skip_failures) for p in paths]
-    return _run(_do_open_file, tasks, progress=progress)
+    return _run(_do_open_file, tasks, return_results=True, progress=progress)
 
 
 def read_file(path, binary=False):
@@ -239,7 +239,7 @@ def read_files(paths, binary=False, skip_failures=False, progress=None):
         a list of file contents
     """
     tasks = [(p, binary, skip_failures) for p in paths]
-    return _run(_do_read_file, tasks, progress=progress)
+    return _run(_do_read_file, tasks, return_results=True, progress=progress)
 
 
 def write_file(str_or_bytes, path):
@@ -793,7 +793,7 @@ def move_files(inpaths, outpaths, skip_failures=False, progress=None):
             progress callback function to invoke instead
     """
     tasks = [(i, o, skip_failures) for i, o in zip(inpaths, outpaths)]
-    _run(_do_move_file, tasks, progress=progress)
+    _run(_do_move_file, tasks, return_results=False, progress=progress)
 
 
 def move_dir(
@@ -848,7 +848,7 @@ def delete_files(paths, skip_failures=False, progress=None):
             progress callback function to invoke instead
     """
     tasks = [(p, skip_failures) for p in paths]
-    _run(_do_delete_file, tasks, progress=progress)
+    _run(_do_delete_file, tasks, return_results=False, progress=progress)
 
 
 def delete_dir(dirpath):
@@ -861,67 +861,65 @@ def delete_dir(dirpath):
     etau.delete_dir(dirpath)
 
 
-def run(fcn, tasks, num_workers=None, progress=None):
+def run(fcn, tasks, return_results=True, num_workers=None, progress=None):
     """Applies the given function to each element of the given tasks.
 
     Args:
         fcn: a function that accepts a single argument
         tasks: an iterable of function arguments
+        return_results (True): whether to return the function results
         num_workers (None): a suggested number of threads to use
         progress (None): whether to render a progress bar (True/False), use the
             default value ``fiftyone.config.show_progress_bars`` (None), or a
             progress callback function to invoke instead
 
     Returns:
-        the list of function outputs
-    """
-    num_workers = fou.recommend_thread_pool_workers(num_workers)
-
-    try:
-        num_tasks = len(tasks)
-    except:
-        num_tasks = None
-
-    kwargs = dict(total=num_tasks, iters_str="files", progress=progress)
-
-    if num_workers <= 1:
-        with fou.ProgressBar(**kwargs) as pb:
-            results = [fcn(task) for task in pb(tasks)]
-    else:
-        with multiprocessing.dummy.Pool(processes=num_workers) as pool:
-            with fou.ProgressBar(**kwargs) as pb:
-                results = list(pb(pool.imap(fcn, tasks)))
-
-    return results
+        the list of function outputs, or None if ``return_results == False``
+    """
+    return _run(
+        fcn,
+        tasks,
+        return_results=return_results,
+        num_workers=num_workers,
+        progress=progress,
+    )
 
 
 def _copy_files(inpaths, outpaths, skip_failures, progress):
     tasks = [(i, o, skip_failures) for i, o in zip(inpaths, outpaths)]
-    _run(_do_copy_file, tasks, progress=progress)
+    _run(_do_copy_file, tasks, return_results=False, progress=progress)
+
 
+def _run(fcn, tasks, return_results=True, num_workers=None, progress=None):
+    try:
+        num_tasks = len(tasks)
+    except:
+        num_tasks = None
 
-def _run(fcn, tasks, num_workers=None, progress=None):
-    num_tasks = len(tasks)
     if num_tasks == 0:
-        return []
+        return [] if return_results else None
 
     num_workers = fou.recommend_thread_pool_workers(num_workers)
-
     kwargs = dict(total=num_tasks, iters_str="files", progress=progress)
 
-    results = []
     if num_workers <= 1:
         with fou.ProgressBar(**kwargs) as pb:
-            for task in pb(tasks):
-                result = fcn(task)
-                results.append(result)
+            if return_results:
+                results = [fcn(task) for task in pb(tasks)]
+            else:
+                for task in pb(tasks):
+                    fcn(task)
     else:
         with multiprocessing.dummy.Pool(processes=num_workers) as pool:
             with fou.ProgressBar(**kwargs) as pb:
-                for result in pb(pool.imap_unordered(fcn, tasks)):
-                    results.append(result)
+                if return_results:
+                    results = list(pb(pool.imap(fcn, tasks)))
+                else:
+                    for _ in pb(pool.imap_unordered(fcn, tasks)):
+                        pass
 
-    return results
+    if return_results:
+        return results
 
 
 def _do_copy_file(arg):
@@ -1003,6 +1001,8 @@ def _copy_file(inpath, outpath, cleanup=False):
     etau.ensure_basedir(outpath)
     if cleanup:
         shutil.move(inpath, outpath)
+    else:
+        shutil.copy(inpath, outpath)
 
 
 def _delete_file(filepath):