Terminal User Guide

In Terminal, you can move and copy files locally or remotely using the mv
, cp
, and scp
command-line tools.
In the Terminal app on your Mac, use the mv command to move files or folders from one location to another on the same computer. The mv command moves the file or folder from its old location and puts it in the new location. For example, to move a file from your Downloads folder to a Work folder in your Documents folder:% mv /Downloads/MyFile. Copy, Move files or folders on a Mac.
Tip: It’s easier to move and copy files using the Finder. See Organize files in folders.
Move a file or folder locally
In the Terminal app on your Mac, use the
mv
command to move files or folders from one location to another on the same computer. Themv
command moves the file or folder from its old location and puts it in the new location.For example, to move a file from your Downloads folder to a Work folder in your Documents folder:
% mv ~/Downloads/MyFile.txt ~/Documents/Work/MyFile.txt
You can also change the name of the file as it’s moved:
% mv ~/Downloads/MyFile.txt ~/Documents/Work/NewFileName.txt
See the mv command man page.
Copy a file or folder locally
In the Terminal app on your Mac, use the
cp
command to make a copy of a file.For example, to copy a folder named Expenses in your Documents folder to another volume named Data:
% cp -R ~/Documents/Expenses /Volumes/Data/Expenses
The
-R
flag causescp
to copy the folder and its contents. Note that the folder name does not end with a slash, which would change howcp
copies the folder.
Mac Move Downloads Folder To Another Drive
See the cp command man page.
Copy a file or folder remotely
In the Terminal app on your Mac, use the
scp
command to copy a file or folder to or from a remote computer.scp
uses the same underlying protocols asssh
.For example, to copy a compressed file from your home folder to another user’s home folder on a remote server:
% scp -E ~/ImportantPapers.tgz username@remoteserver.com:/Users/username/Desktop/ImportantPapers.tgz
You’re prompted for the user’s password.
The
-E
flag preserves extended attributes, resource forks, and ACL information.The
-r
flag, which isn’t used in this example, causesscp
to copy a folder and its contents.
See the scp command man page.
Option 1
Open up two finder windows, the downloads folder and in the second the location where you want to go and drag the file between the two.
Option 2
Mac Move Downloads Folder To Dock

You can use keyboard shortcuts, copy the file (⌘ + c) and then when you paste it (⌘ + v) in the new location, also have the option key press (⌘ + ⌥ + v) and this will move rather than copy.

Option 3
Use the contextual menu. Right click the file and select 'Copy [filename]'. Go to where you want the file to go, right click there with the option key press (⌥) and select 'Move item here'.
Aug 3, 2016 10:25 AM