cp / mv / rm

cp [options] source destination
mv [options] source destination
rm [options] file...

Command / Option	Description
cp file destination	Copies a file to the specified location.
cp -r directory destination	Copies a directory recursively.
cp -p file destination	Copies a file while preserving its permissions, timestamps, and other attributes.
cp -i file destination	Prompts for confirmation before overwriting an existing file.
cp -u file destination	Copies only when the source file is newer than the destination.
mv file destination	Moves a file to the destination. If the destination is in the same directory, the file is renamed.
mv -i file destination	Prompts for confirmation before overwriting an existing file.
rm file	Deletes a file.
rm -r directory	Deletes a directory recursively.
rm -f file	Force-deletes without prompting. Does not produce an error if the file does not exist.
rm -rf directory	Force-deletes a directory and all its contents recursively. This cannot be undone — use with extreme caution.
rm -i file	Prompts for confirmation before deleting each file.

The following examples use this directory structure.

Copy a file.

cp file.txt backup.txt
ls
archives  backup.txt  file.txt  src

Copy an entire directory. The -r option is required.

cp -r src/ src_backup/
ls
archives  backup.txt  file.txt  src  src_backup

Copy a directory while preserving its attributes (useful for backups).

cp -rp src/ backup/

Move a file to another directory.

mv file.txt archives/
ls
archives  backup.txt  src  src_backup

Rename a file (moving within the same directory).

mv backup.txt old_backup.txt
ls
archives  old_backup.txt  src  src_backup

Delete a file.

rm old_backup.txt
ls
archives  src  src_backup

Delete all files matching a wildcard pattern.

rm *.log

Force-delete a directory and all its contents.

rm -rf src_backup/
ls
archives  src

'$ rm -rf' deletes an entire directory without any confirmation, so specifying the wrong path can cause serious data loss. When using a variable in the path (e.g., '$ rm -rf $DIR/'), wrap the variable in double quotes ('"$DIR"') or verify it is not empty before running the command — otherwise an empty variable could expand to '$ rm -rf /'.

To inspect file details, see ls.