Intro To 'mv' Command In Linux

2023-04-18 - By Robert Elder

     I use the 'mv' command to move or rename files to rename a file or directory.  I type 'mv' followed by the source file name followed by the new destination file name:

mv grocery-list.txt shopping-list.txt  # 'grocery-list.txt' is now renamed to 'shopping-list.txt'

     If you want to keep the same file name, but change the file's location instead, then you only need to specify the directory name in the destination:

mv todo-shopping.txt /home/robert/important/
ls /home/robert/important/ # The output should now include 'todo-shopping.txt'.

     If you're not careful you could overwrite an existing file with the 'mv' command. That's why I use the '-n' flag to prevent this from happening:

cat grocery-list.txt     #  Shows my grocery list
cat important-notes.txt  #  Shows my important notes.
mv -n grocery-list.txt important-notes.txt
ls  #  Both files should still be present.
cat important-notes.txt  #  Shows that 'important-notes' was NOT overwritten by the grocery list.

     And that's why the 'mv' command is my favourite Linux command.

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