cp

Make a copy of a file, copy several files into a folder, or copy a whole folder with -r.

>_ Try it: a simulated Linux, right herenothing runs on your computer

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Examples

cp todo.txt todo.bak a backup copy next to the file
mkdir backup a folder to copy into
cp -v todo.txt ideas.txt backup/ two files into the folder, saying what happened
cp -r backup backup-2 a whole folder
ls backup-2 the copy has everything
cp -n ideas.txt todo.txt nothing happens: todo.txt already exists

How it works

cp SOURCE DEST copies a file. If DEST is a folder that exists, the copy goes inside it with the same name; otherwise DEST is the new name.

Folders need -r (recursive): cp -r project project-backup copies the folder and everything in it. Careful: cp overwrites an existing file without asking, unless you add -n.

Syntax

cp [OPTION]... SOURCE... DEST

Options

Option	What it does
`-r`	copy folders and everything inside them
`-v`	say what was copied
`-n`	never overwrite a file that already exists

Good to know

To copy several files, the last name must be a folder: cp a.txt b.txt backup/.
A copy is a new file: changing todo.bak later doesn't touch todo.txt.