Manage files in Terminal on Mac

In Terminal, you can move and copy files locally or remotely using the mv, cp, and scp command-line tools.

Tip: It’s easier to move and copy files using the Finder. See Organize files in folders.

Move a file or folder locally

In the Terminal app on your Mac, use the mv command to move files or folders from one location to another on the same computer. The mv command moves the file or folder from its old location and puts it in the new location.
For example, to move a file from your Downloads folder to a Work folder in your Documents folder:
% mv ~/Downloads/MyFile.txt ~/Documents/Work/MyFile.txt
You can also change the name of the file as it’s moved:
% mv ~/Downloads/MyFile.txt ~/Documents/Work/NewFileName.txt

In the Terminal app on your Mac, use the cp command to make a copy of a file.
For example, to copy a folder named Expenses in your Documents folder to another volume named Data:
% cp -R ~/Documents/Expenses /Volumes/Data/Expenses
The -R flag causes cp to copy the folder and its contents. Note that the folder name does not end with a slash, which would change how cp copies the folder.

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