cp

Usage

cp [OPTIONS] SOURCE DESTINATION
cp [OPTIONS] SOURCE_A SOURCE_B [...] DESTINATION

Common situations

Copy files

Be careful of trailing slash when copying to or from a directory name. I find it works better without. Or maybe that is only rsync where is makes a difference?

$ cp foo.txt bazz

Copy multiple sources.

$ cp foo.txt bar.txt bazz
$ cp *.mp3 bazz

Copy to current location.

$ cp ~/foo.txt .

Copy directories

Use the -r flag for recursive. If you omit the flag then an error message will suggest it. Note that -R is similar but not the same.

$ cp -r SOURCE DEST

Copy foo itself into bazz.

$ cp -r foo bazz

Copy contents of foo into bazz.

$ cp -r foo/ bazz

Copy paths with a directory. You will see -r flag if there are directories in foo and not just files.

$ cp foo/* bazz

Copy interactively

Prevent overwriting of targets. You’ll have to enter y or n for each file.

$ cp -i SOURCE DEST

To always use:

alias cp='cp -i'

And then to skip interactive mode selectively:

$ command cp SOURCE DEST

Note that the -f flag doesn’t help here.

Verbose

$ cp -v SOURCE DEST

Help

Linux manpage - link.

cp

Copy one or more files to another location.

Copy SOURCE to DEST, or multiple SOURCE(s) to DIRECTORY.

Syntax
      cp [options]... Source Dest
      cp [options]... Source... Directory

Key

  -a, --archive                same as -dpR

  -b, --backup                 Make backup before removal.
                               If the copy will overwrite a file in the destination, then
                               the original file will be backed up as 'filename~' before
                               being overwritten.

  -d, --no-dereference         preserve links

  -f, --force                  remove existing destinations, never prompt

  -i, --interactive            prompt before overwrite

  -l, --link                   link files instead of copying

  -p, --preserve               preserve file attributes if possible

  -P, --parents                append source path to DIRECTORY

  -r                           copy recursively, non-directories as files

      --sparse=WHEN            control creation of sparse files

  -R, --recursive              copy directories recursively

  -s, --symbolic-link          make symbolic links instead of copying

  -S, --suffix=SUFFIX          override the usual backup suffix

  -u, --update                 copy only when the SOURCE file is newer
                                 than the destination file or when the
                                 destination file is missing

  -v, --verbose                explain what is being done

  -V, --version-control=WORD   override the usual version control

  -x, --one-file-system        stay on this file system
      --help                   display this help and exit
      --version                output version information and exit.