Copy, move and rename: cp and mv

Copying with cp

cp SOURCE DEST copies a file. The original stays where it was.

If the destination is an existing directory, the copy goes inside it and keeps its name: cp drafts/todo.txt final/ makes final/todo.txt.

Directories need -r (recursive): it copies the directory and everything inside it.

Moving and renaming with mv

mv SOURCE DEST moves. Within the same directory, moving is renaming; there is no separate rename command.

mv moves directories too, without needing -r.

Both cp and mv silently replace a file that already has the destination's name. Check with ls before you copy over something important.