Command Line – Moving and Renaming

In any operating system, moving and renaming files or directories are common file management tasks. In Windows, these tasks are done through the move and ren commands. However, to the bewilderment of new users, Linux uses a different logic: It treats moving and renaming as the same operation. Moreover, to add to the confusion, mv, the default command for these tasks, is mainly suitable only for small operations. If you frequently do mass moves or renaming, a better choice is to install either rename or mmv from your distribution's repository and learn their more complex command structures, including their wildcards.

The Default mv Command

In most Unix-like operating systems, mv  [1] is the default command for moving and renaming files. Installed by default, it is often used without any options, with only a source and destination after the command. This structure has the advantage of being easy to remember. However, mv is limited by the fact that while it can move multiple files in a space-separated list, only one destination can be specified.

Within this restriction, mv has a small group of options, although many users are probably unaware of them, because they're often unnecessary for simple commands. You can set mv to act without prompting with --force (-f), to act with prompts with --interactive (-i), or avoid overwriting existing files with --no-clobber (-n). However, only one of these options can be used in any command. Try to use more than one of these three, and only the last one will be activated.

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