mv Command Cheat Sheet

mv moves (renames) files.

Synopsis

mv [OPTION]... SOURCE DEST
mv [OPTION]... SOURCE... DIRECTORY

Basic Usage

Rename File

mv old_name.txt new_name.txt

Move File to Directory

mv file.txt /home/user/Documents/

Move Multiple Files

mv file1.txt file2.txt /home/user/Documents/

Safety Options

Interactive (-i)

Prompt before overwriting an existing file.

mv -i source.txt existing_target.txt
# Output: mv: overwrite 'existing_target.txt'?

No Overwrite (-n)

Do not overwrite an existing file. Silently skip it.

mv -n source.txt existing_target.txt

Update Only (-u)

Move only if the SOURCE is newer than the DESTINATION (or DEST is missing).

mv -u new_file.txt old_file.txt

Backup Options

Create Backup (-b)

If target exists, rename the old one with ~ suffix.

mv -b config.xml /etc/app/config.xml
# Creates /etc/app/config.xml~

Custom Suffix (-S)

mv --backup=numbered file.txt target.txt
# Creates target.txt.~1~

Advanced: Atomic Moves

mv is atomic if moving within the same filesystem. Use this for updating files used by running services. 1. Write new config to config.tmp. 2. mv config.tmp config.final. 3. The service sees either the old file or the new file, never a half-written file.

Cross-Filesystem Moves: If moving from / to /mnt/usb, mv actually does cp + rm. This is NOT atomic.

Troubleshooting

"Device or resource busy"

You cannot move a mount point or an open file/directory being used by the kernel in a specific way.

"Argument list too long"

Trying mv * destination/ in a directory with 1 million files? Use find instead:

find . -name "*.jpg" -exec mv {} /destination/ \;

Notes

• Target: If target is a directory, source is moved into it. If target is a file (or doesn't exist), source is renamed to it.