mv

Move or rename files or directories.

SYNTAX
      mv [options]... Source Dest

      mv [options]... Source... Directory

If the last argument names an existing directory, 'mv' moves each other given file into a file with the same name in that directory. Otherwise, if only two files are given, it renames the first as the second. It is an error if the last argument is not a directory and more than two files are given.

OPTIONS  

-b
--backup
     Make a backup of each file that would otherwise be overwritten or
     removed.

-f
--force
     Remove existing destination files and never prompt the user.

-i
--interactive
     Prompt whether to overwrite each existing destination file,
     regardless of its permissions.  If the response does not begin
     with 'y' or 'Y', the file is skipped.

-S SUFFIX
--suffix=SUFFIX
     Append SUFFIX to each backup file made with '-b'.
     The backup suffix is ~, unless set with SIMPLE_BACKUP_SUFFIX.

-u
--update
     Do not move a nondirectory that has an existing destination with
     the same or newer modification time.

-v
--verbose
     Print the name of each file before moving it.

-V METHOD
--version-control=METHOD'
     Change the type of backups made with '-b'. METHOD can be:
     
       t, numbered     make numbered backups
       nil, existing   numbered if numbered backups exist, simple otherwise
       never, simple   always make simple backups

 --help                   display help and exit
 --version                output version information and exit

Examples

Rename the file apple as orange.doc:
mv apple orange.doc

Move orange.doc to the Documents folder:
mv orange.doc ~/Documents/orange.doc

Rename a bunch of .txt file extensions to *.htm
for f in *.txt; do mv ./"$f" "${f%txt}htm"; done

Rename files that end with 'copy.txt' to just .txt
this demonstrates bash shell parameter expansion ${parameter/pattern/string}

for f in *copy.html; do mv "$f" "${f/copy.txt/.txt}";done

'mv' can move only regular files across filesystems.

If a destination file exists but is normally unwritable, standard input is a terminal, and the '-f' or '--force' option is not given, 'mv' prompts the user for whether to replace the file. (You might own the file, or have write permission on its directory.) If the response does not begin with 'y' or 'Y', the file is skipped.

“Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex... It takes a touch of genius - and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction” ~ Albert Einstein

Related linux commands:

cp - Copy one or more files to another location.
mmv - Mass Move and rename.
Equivalent Windows command: MOVE - Move files from one folder to another.