< Manipulating files in Linux - 2.1 >

How to use the Linux command line as a file manager. Learn how to copy, move, and delete files under Linux with the cp, mv, and rm commands.

This tuXfile teaches you how to manipulate files in Linux. If you'd like to learn how to manipulate directories, take a look at the Manipulating directories in Linux tuXfile.

Author: Nana Långstedt < nana.langstedt at gmail.com >
tuXfile created: 20 December 2001
Last modified: 22 September 2005

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< Copying >

To copy files, you use the cp command. The following will copy file to file2. Note that if file2 doesn't exist, it'll be created, but if it exists, it'll be overwritten:
$ cp file file2

There aren't any undo commands in the Linux CLI, so accidentally overwriting an important file would probably make you pull your head off. The risk of doing so is smaller if you use the -i option ("interactive") with cp. The following does the same as the above, but if file2 exists, you'll be prompted before overwriting:

$ cp -i file file2 cp: overwrite `file2'? n $

So it's a good idea to use the -i option whenever you're dealing with important files you don't want to lose!

If you want to copy file into directory dir1:
$ cp file dir1

The following would do the same as the above, copy file into dir1, but under a different name:
$ cp file dir1/file2

You can also copy multiple files into one directory with a single command:
$ cp file1 file2 file3 dir1

Note that if the last argument isn't a directory name, you'll get an error message complaining about it.

< Moving and renaming >

The mv command can be used for moving or renaming files. To rename a file, you can use it like this:
$ mv file file2

If file2 doesn't exist, it'll be created, but if it exists, it'll be overwritten. If you want to be prompted before overwriting files, you can use the -i option the same way as with cp:

$ mv -i file file2 mv: overwrite `file2'? y $

To move the file into another directory:
$ mv file dir1

If you want to rename the file to file2 and move it into another directory, you probably already figured out the command:
$ mv file dir1/file2

< Removing files >

The rm command is used for removing files and directories. To remove a file:
$ rm file

If you use the -i option, you'll be prompted before removing the file:
$ rm -i file

You can also delete more files at once:
rm file1 file2

Be careful with the rm command! As I already told you, Linux doesn't have any undo commands, and it doesn't put files into Trash where you can save them later. Once you've deleted a file, it's bye-bye!

< What next? >

Now you know how to manipulate files on Linux. Next, you might want to know how to do the same with directories.

Related tuXfiles

Creating, copying, moving, and removing directories
The next tutorial in the Linux command line basics series. How to manipulate directories on Linux.