Move/Rename Files and Directories

To move the content of a file/directory to another directory, you just use the mv command. This command doesn’t create a copy/duplicate of files or directories.

To move the contents of a directory, use the following command:

Syntax:

For example, to move all the contents of a directory called animals to a directory named birds you would type:

In this case, if birds (destination directory) exists, the contents of animals directory will be moved to the birds directory and animals directory will disappear. However, if the birds directory doesn’t exist, it will be created and then the contents of animals directory will be moved. The animals directory will disappear after the contents are moved.

The Syntax for moving files is:

For example, to move a file called owls into directory birds, you would type:

mv command is used to rename files and directories. Renaming files and directories is simply a case of "moving" a file or a directory from one name to another.

The general expression for renaming files is as follows:

For example, to rename file owls to parrots, you would type:

To rename a directory named animals to birds, you simply type: