• Moves a file (i.e. gives it a different name).
• Rename a file.

mv command syntax

You need to use the mv command to rename a file as follows:

mv old-file-name new-file-name
mv file1 file2
mv source target
mv [options] source target

Examples

Open the terminal (bash shell prompt) and type the following command to list file names:

ls 
ls -l

In this example, rename a file called data.txt to letters.txt, enter:

mv data.txt letters.txt
ls -l letters.txt

File is renamed so the following command will display an error on screen:

ls -l data.txt

Outputs:

ls: cannot access data.txt: No such file or directory

The following would rename a file called foo to bar, while keeping it in the current directory:

mv foo bar

Rename a directory/folder Unix command

The following would rename a directory (folder) called dir1 to dir2, while keeping it in the current directory:

mv dir1 dir2

Move a file/folder to an existing directory

The following would move a file named resume.txt, without changing its name, to an existing subdirectory called /home/nixcraft/Documents/

mv resume.txt /home/nixcraft/Documents/
 
## verify new file location with ls -l command ##
ls -l /home/nixcraft/Documents/

Suggested Readings:

Type the following command to read mv command man page:
man mv