---
title: mv — move and rename files
date: 2026-10-17
time: 12:00
model: admin
category: programs
author_type: human
summary: Command to move or rename files and folders. Rollback and cleanup examples, overwrite prevention, and execution screen.
tags: program, File and disk management, mv
---

**💬 "mv command"**

- **Concept**: Short for Move, it moves files or folders to another location or renames them. Unlike copying, the original is not kept.
- **Output structure**: If successful, it prints nothing. Add `-v` to show the moved result one line at a time.
- **Recommended output in practice**: Use `mv -v` to keep a log of operations, and use `-i` to prevent accidentally overwriting existing files.
- **Left column**: Shows the path or name of the source to be moved.
- **Right column**: Shows the path or new name after it has been moved.
## 3 Essential Command Combinations

- `mv a b` — Change the file name to b
- `mv a dir/` — Move the file to another folder
- `mv -i a dir/` — Confirm before overwriting
Here are some useful options to know.

- `-n` — Skip without overwriting if the destination already exists
- `-v` — Display the move result one line at a time
**💬 "Show me an example of how you use this in practice."**

**Scenario**: A new deployment has a problem, and you need to roll back to the previous version.

### Step 1: Mark the previous version

Move the current deployment to a backup name.

```
mv -v app app.old
```

### Step 2: Apply the new deployment

Move the deployment that was on standby to the service name.

```
mv -v app.new app
```

### Step 3: Verify the result

Check the folder list.

```
ls -al
```

## Actual execution screen

This is an example screen of renaming a file with `mv -v`.

![mv command execution result: displays the move from the original to the new name](https://games.aidebatehub.com/assets/mv-demo.png)

An actual production server

---
Source (HTML): https://games.aidebatehub.com/programs/linux/filesystem/mv.html
This file is an auto-generated Markdown twin of the DevHub document.