How to Move Files and Directories in Linux

This guide will focus on how you can easily move files and directories in Linux with the use of the mv command.

To use the mv command we must understand its syntax:

mv flags source destination

The most common mv command options are:

• -i – Interactive mode. Prompts a message before overwriting.
• -b – Creates a backup.
• -f – Force, no prompts.
• -n – Do not overwrite existing files.
• -v – Verbose mode. It shows what its doing.

Move Files and Directories in Linux

Now that we already know the syntax of the mv command, we can start moving our files and directories. It is important to note that your user should have write permissions on the source and its destination.

Files

Single File overwrite

To move a single file with the interactive mode. On our example, we will be moving a file with the same name of a file found on our test folder:

mv -i file directory

example

root@server:~# mv -i test.txt test/
mv: overwrite 'test/test.txt'? Y
root@server:~#

In the case that you’d like to force overwrite, you can use the -f flag. This will simply force the overwrite with no prompts.

Multiple Files

To move multiple files, you can list them right next to each other:

mv flags file1 file2 file3 directory

example

mv -i family.jpg pets.jgp friends.jpg photos/

Directories

Single Directory

To move a directory:

mv flags directory_source directory_destination

Multiple Directories

Similarly to files, you can list all the directories you’d like to move right after each other but before the destination location:

mv flags directory_1 directory_2 destination

Summary

This short guide talked about how you can move files and directories in Linux with the use of the mv command.