Unix Rename a Directory Command

mv command syntax to rename directories

The basic syntax is:

mv oldDirName newDirName

OR

mv source target

Renaming a directory on Unix

Open the Terminal app and type the following command to rename a directory called foo to bar:

mv foo bar

Alert: The directory foo will be given the new name bar as long as a directory called bar did not previously exist. If directory bar already existed before the mv command was issued, the result of would be to put the directory foo and its files into the directory bar.

Getting verbose output

Pass the -v option to the mv command to be verbose, showing files after they are moved:

mv -v python-project-1 python-project-2

python-project-1 -> python-project-2