Course/Working with Files & Directories/Copying Files

Copying Files

Use cp to duplicate files and cp -r to copy entire directories.

cp (copy) duplicates a file from one location to another. The original stays untouched and a new copy is created at the destination. You need two arguments: the source (what to copy) and the destination (where to put it).

cp original.txt copy.txt              # copy to a new name
cp config.json backups/config.json    # copy to another directory
cp -r src/ src-backup/                # copy an entire directory

By default, cp only works on individual files. To copy a directory and everything inside it, you need the -r flag (recursive). Without -r, trying to copy a directory will give you an error. This is a safety measure — copying a large directory tree is a significant operation, so the terminal makes you be explicit about it.

Be careful: if the destination file already exists, cp will overwrite it without warning. If you want to be prompted before overwriting, use cp -i (interactive mode). For critical files, this extra safety check is worth the extra keystroke.

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Creating backups before making changes is a great habit. A quick cp config.json config.json.bak before editing gives you an easy way to restore the original if something goes wrong.

WIN

In Command Prompt, copy file.txt dest.txt copies files and xcopy /s source dest copies directories. PowerShell uses Copy-Item source.txt dest.txt and Copy-Item -Recurse src/ dest/. In WSL, cp works as shown.

There's an important configuration file that needs a backup. Copy projects/config.json into the backups directory.

Practice