move (command)

In computing, move is a command in various DOS,^[1] OS/2 and Microsoft Windows command line interpreters (shells) such as COMMAND.COM, cmd.exe,^[2] 4DOS/4NT and Windows PowerShell. It is used to move one or more files or directories from one place to another. The original file is deleted, and the new file may have the same or a different name. It is analogous to the Unix mv command.

In Windows PowerShell, move is a predefined command alias for the Move-Item Cmdlet which basically serves the same purpose.

Command Syntax

C:\>move /?
Moves files and renames files and directories.

To move one or more files:
MOVE [/Y | /-Y] [drive:][path]filename1[,...] destination

To rename a directory:
MOVE [/Y | /-Y] [drive:][path]dirname1 dirname2
  [drive:][path]filename1 Specifies the location and name of the file or files you want to move.

  destination             Specifies the new location of the file. Destination can consist of a drive letter and colon, a directory name, or a combination. If you are moving only one file, you can also include a filename if you want to rename the file when you move it.

  [drive:][path]dirname1  Specifies the directory you want to rename.

  dirname2                Specifies the new name of the directory.

  /Y                      Suppresses prompting to confirm you want to overwrite an existing destination file.

  /-Y                     Causes prompting to confirm you want to overwrite an existing destination file.

The switch /Y may be present in the COPYCMD environment variable. This may be overridden with /-Y on the command line. Default is to prompt on overwrites unless MOVE command is being executed from within a batch script.

See also

• List of DOS commands
• List of Unix programs

References

1. Jamsa, Kris A. (1993), DOS: The Complete Reference, Osborne McGraw-Hill, p. 206, ISBN 0078819040.
2. http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb490935.aspx Microsoft TechNet Move article