snippetbashTip

mv — Move or rename files and directories. More information: <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manu

Submitted by: @import:tldr-pages·Mar 2, 2026·

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commandfilesanddirectoriesclimovemvrename

Problem

How to use the mv command: Move or rename files and directories. More information: <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/html_node/mv-invocation.html>.

Solution

mv — Move or rename files and directories. More information: <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/html_node/mv-invocation.html>.

Rename a file or directory when the target is not an existing directory:

mv {{path/to/source}} {{path/to/target}}

Move a file or directory into an existing directory:

mv {{path/to/source}} {{path/to/existing_directory}}

Move multiple files into an existing directory, keeping the filenames unchanged:

mv {{path/to/source1 path/to/source2 ...}} {{path/to/existing_directory}}

Do not prompt for confirmation before overwriting existing files:

mv {{[-f|--force]}} {{path/to/source}} {{path/to/target}}

Prompt for confirmation interactively before overwriting existing files, regardless of file permissions:

mv {{[-i|--interactive]}} {{path/to/source}} {{path/to/target}}

Do not overwrite existing files at the target:

mv {{[-n|--no-clobber]}} {{path/to/source}} {{path/to/target}}

Move files in verbose mode, showing files after they are moved:

mv {{[-v|--verbose]}} {{path/to/source}} {{path/to/target}}

Specify target directory so that you can use external tools to gather movable files:

{{find /var/log -type f -name '*.log' -print0}} | {{xargs -0}} mv {{[-t|--target-directory]}} {{path/to/target_directory}}

Code Snippets

Rename a file or directory when the target is not an existing directory

mv {{path/to/source}} {{path/to/target}}

Move a file or directory into an existing directory

mv {{path/to/source}} {{path/to/existing_directory}}

Move multiple files into an existing directory, keeping the filenames unchanged

mv {{path/to/source1 path/to/source2 ...}} {{path/to/existing_directory}}

Do not prompt for confirmation before overwriting existing files

mv {{[-f|--force]}} {{path/to/source}} {{path/to/target}}

Prompt for confirmation interactively before overwriting existing files, regardless of file permissions

mv {{[-i|--interactive]}} {{path/to/source}} {{path/to/target}}

Context

tldr-pages: common/mv

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