The mv command moves or renames files and folders.

mv oldname.txt newname.txt    # Rename a file
mv file.txt ~/Documents/      # Move to Documents

Rename a File

mv report.txt report-final.txt

The file stays in the same folder with a new name.

Move a File to Another Folder

mv file.txt ~/Downloads/

The file moves to Downloads, keeping its name.

Move and Rename at Once

mv file.txt ~/Downloads/newname.txt

Moves the file and renames it in one command.

Move Multiple Files

mv file1.txt file2.txt file3.txt ~/Documents/

All three files move to Documents.

Or use wildcards:

mv *.jpg ~/Pictures/

Moves all .jpg files to Pictures.

Move a Folder

mv myfolder/ ~/Documents/

Moves the entire folder and its contents.

Common Examples

Prevent Accidental Overwrites

If the destination file already exists, mv silently overwrites it. To get a warning:

mv -i file.txt ~/Documents/

The -i flag prompts before overwriting.

Make it your default:

alias mv="mv -i"

Add that to your .zshrc.

Force Move (No Prompts)

If you want to overwrite without asking:

mv -f file.txt ~/Documents/

Use with caution.

Verbose Mode

See what's happening:

mv -v file.txt ~/Documents/

Output: file.txt -> /Users/you/Documents/file.txt

Move Hidden Files

Hidden files (starting with .) aren't matched by *. To move them:

mv .* ~/destination/

Or be more specific:

mv .gitignore .env ~/project/

Move All Files from a Folder

mv source-folder/* destination-folder/

This moves the contents, not the folder itself.

To include hidden files:

mv source-folder/* source-folder/.* destination-folder/

Rename with a Pattern

To rename multiple files with a pattern, combine mv with a loop:

for f in *.jpeg; do mv "\$f" "\${f%.jpeg}.jpg"; done

This renames all .jpeg files to .jpg.

Undo a Move

Just move it back:

mv ~/Documents/file.txt ~/Desktop/

There's no built-in undo, but moves are reversible if you remember where the file was.

Common Mistakes

Forgetting the trailing slash:

mv file.txt folder    # If 'folder' doesn't exist, this renames file.txt to 'folder'
mv file.txt folder/   # This correctly moves into the folder

Overwriting files accidentally:

mv newfile.txt existingfile.txt   # existingfile.txt is gone

Use mv -i to prevent this.

Wrong directory:

Always check your location with pwd before moving files.

mv vs cp

Use cp when you want to keep the original.

Move to Trash Instead of Delete

mv is also useful for "safe deletes":

mv file.txt ~/.Trash/

The file goes to Trash instead of being permanently deleted.

Batch Move by File Type

mv *.pdf ~/Documents/PDFs/
mv *.mp3 ~/Music/
mv *.jpg *.png ~/Pictures/

Organize files by type in one line.

Keep Learning

mv is one of the essential file commands. The free course covers this and other fundamentals.

Check it out at Mac Terminal for Humans.