What is the Linux `mv` command?

The Linux mv command moves or renames files and directories. Compared with copying, moving is usually simpler, but option choice still matters when overwriting files or moving multiple sources at once.

Quoting also matters because shell paths often contain spaces or special characters.

Tool description

This tool generates a Linux mv command from one or more source paths, a destination, optional raw options, and common move flags. It can also prefix the command with sudo.

Use it when you want a safe, copyable move command without assembling the shell syntax by hand.

Examples

  • Renaming a single file
  • Moving several files into a destination folder
  • Building an interactive move that asks before overwriting

Features

  • Supports multiple source paths
  • Common mv flags such as force, interactive, no-clobber, update, verbose, and backup
  • Plain shell output ready to copy

Limitations

The tool only constructs the command. It does not execute it or check that the destination will behave exactly as expected on your system.

Raw options are passed through unchanged, and quoting only escapes double quotes.