mv — move (rename) files
Examples (TL;DR)
-
Move files in arbitrary locations:
mv source target -
Do not prompt for confirmation before overwriting existing files:
mv -f source target -
Prompt for confirmation before overwriting existing files, regardless of file permissions:
mv -i source target -
Do not overwrite existing files at the target:
mv -n source target -
Move files in verbose mode, showing files after they are moved:
mv -v source target
Synopsis
mv [OPTION]... [-T] SOURCE DEST
mv [OPTION]... SOURCE... DIRECTORY
mv [OPTION]... -t DIRECTORY SOURCE...
Description
Rename SOURCE to DEST, or move SOURCE(s) to DIRECTORY.
Mandatory arguments to long options are mandatory for short options too.
- --backup[=CONTROL]
make a backup of each existing destination file
- -b
like --backup but does not accept an argument
- -f, --force
do not prompt before overwriting
- -i, --interactive
prompt before overwrite
- -n, --no-clobber
do not overwrite an existing file
If you specify more than one of -i, -f, -n, only the final one takes effect.
- --strip-trailing-slashes
remove any trailing slashes from each SOURCE argument
- -S, --suffix=SUFFIX
override the usual backup suffix
- -t, --target-directory=DIRECTORY
move all SOURCE arguments into DIRECTORY
- -T, --no-target-directory
treat DEST as a normal file
- -u, --update
move only when the SOURCE file is newer than the destination file or when the destination file is missing
- -v, --verbose
explain what is being done
- -Z, --context
set SELinux security context of destination file to default type
- --help
display this help and exit
- --version
output version information and exit
The backup suffix is '~', unless set with --suffix or SIMPLE_BACKUP_SUFFIX. The version control method may be selected via the --backup option or through the VERSION_CONTROL environment variable. Here are the values:
- none, off
never make backups (even if --backup is given)
- numbered, t
make numbered backups
- existing, nil
numbered if numbered backups exist, simple otherwise
- simple, never
always make simple backups
Reporting Bugs
GNU coreutils online help: <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/>
Report any translation bugs to <https://translationproject.org/team/>
Copyright
Copyright © 2019 Free Software Foundation, Inc. License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later <https://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>.
This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it. There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.
See Also
Full documentation <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/mv>
or available locally via: info '(coreutils) mv invocation'
Referenced By
acl(5), filechan(8), forward(5), freeze(1), gio(1), icmd(1), inotify(7), lsof(1), mksh(1), mmv(1), nbdkit-rate-filter(1), prename(1), ptrash(1), refile(1), ren(1), rename(1), rename(2), shtool(1), shtool-move(1), sshfs(1), symlink(7).