cp Command Examples

Copy files and directories. More information: https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/cp.

• 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 {{path/to/source_directory}} {{path/to/target_directory}}

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

cp -vR {{path/to/source_directory}} {{path/to/target_directory}}

• Copy multiple files at once to a directory:

cp -t {{path/to/destination_directory}} {{path/to/file1 path/to/file2 ...}}

• Copy text files to another location, in interactive mode (prompts user before overwriting):

cp -i {{*.txt}} {{path/to/target_directory}}

• Follow symbolic links before copying:

cp -L {{link}} {{path/to/target_directory}}

• Use the first argument as the destination directory (useful for xargs ... | cp -t <DEST_DIR>):

cp -t {{path/to/target_directory}} {{path/to/file_or_directory1 path/to/file_or_directory2 ...}}