Moving and copying (mv and cp)

To reorganize and duplicate files in the terminal, use the cp (copy) and mv (move or rename) commands.

Copying Files and Folders: cp

The basic syntax for copying a file is:

cp [source] [destination]

It stands for Copy. For example, to copy a file named photo.png into a folder called images, you would type:

cp photo.png images/

Copying Folders Recursively with -r

If you try to copy a directory using the standard cp command, you will get an error. To copy a folder and all its contents recursively, you must use the -r (or -R, recursive) option:

cp -r project_folder project_backup

Moving or Renaming Files and Folders: mv

The mv command stands for Move. It is used both to move files and folders into different directories, and to rename them:

mv [source] [destination]

Moving a Resource

To move a file named document.pdf into a folder called archive:

mv document.pdf archive/

Renaming a Resource

To change a file's name without moving it to another directory, specify the new filename as the destination:

mv old_name.txt new_name.txt

Moving and Renaming at the Same Time

You can move and rename a file in a single step:

mv report.txt archive/monthly_report.txt

Usage Examples and Common Errors

If you try to copy a directory without specifying the recursive -r option, the cp command will fail with an error:

cp backup backup_copy
# Output:
# cp: -r not specified; omitting directory 'backup'

If you try to move or copy a source file that does not exist, you will receive an error message:

mv nonexistent_file.txt backup/
# Output:
# mv: cannot stat 'nonexistent_file.txt': No such file or directory

Try it yourself

Exercise 1: Copy a report

Exercise 2: Move and rename

Exercise 3: Copy a directory