cp Command Examples

Copy files and directories. More information: https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/html_node/cp-invocation.html.

• Copy a file to another location:

cp {{path/to/source_file.ext}} {{path/to/target_file.ext}}

• Copy a file into another directory, keeping the filename:

cp {{path/to/source_file.ext}} {{path/to/target_parent_directory}}

• Recursively copy a directory's contents to another location (if the destination exists, the directory is copied inside it):

cp {{[-r|--recursive]}} {{path/to/source_directory}} {{path/to/target_directory}}

• Copy a directory recursively, in verbose mode (shows files as they are copied):

cp {{[-vr|--verbose --recursive]}} {{path/to/source_directory}} {{path/to/target_directory}}

• Copy multiple files at once to a directory:

cp {{[-t|--target-directory]}} {{path/to/destination_directory}} {{path/to/file1 path/to/file2 ...}}

• Copy all files with a specific extension to another location, in interactive mode (prompts user before overwriting):

cp {{[-i|--interactive]}} {{*.ext}} {{path/to/target_directory}}

• Follow symbolic links before copying:

cp {{[-L|--dereference]}} {{link}} {{path/to/target_directory}}

• Use the full path of source files, creating any missing intermediate directories when copying:

cp --parents {{source/path/to/file}} {{path/to/target_file}}