How to Copy Files in Linux

Written by Jack Lloyd

Last Updated: March 4, 2023 Tested

This wikiHow teaches you how to copy and paste a file on a Linux computer. The command line can be used to copy and paste files, or you can use the keyboard shortcuts or your computer's right-click function if you're using a version of Linux that has a user interface.

Method 1

Method 1 of 2:

Using the Command Line

1
Open Terminal. Click or double-click the Terminal app icon, which usually resembles a black box with a white ">_" on it.
- You can also just press Alt+Ctrl+T to open Terminal on most Linux versions.
2
Go to the proper directory. Type in cd path where "path" is the address of the folder in which the file you want to copy is located, then press ↵ Enter.
- For example, to tell Terminal to look for your file in the Desktop folder, you would type cd Desktop into Terminal.
- Make sure you capitalize the folder's name if necessary.
- If attempting to switch to a folder results in an error, you'll need to enter the folder's entire path (e.g., /home/name/Desktop/folder instead of just folder) here.
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3
Type in the "copy" tag. This tag is cp with a space after it.
4
Enter a file's name. Type in the name and extension of the file you want to copy after cp and the space, then add a space.
- For example, if you want to copy a file named "hello", you would type cp hello into Terminal.
- If the file name has an extension on the end of it (e.g., ".desktop"), make sure you include the extension in the file's name when typing it into Terminal.
5
Enter the destination folder. Type in the path for the folder into which you want to copy the file.
- For example, if you want to copy "hello" into a folder named "Hi" that's stored in the Documents folder, you would have cp hello /home/name/Documents/Hi (where "name" is your username) typed into Terminal.
6
Press ↵ Enter. Doing so will run your command. Your file will be pasted into the folder you specified.

Method 2

Method 2 of 2:

Using the Interface

1
Consider using keyboard shortcuts. As with virtually all operating systems that have user interfaces, you can use keyboard shortcuts to copy and paste files on Linux:
- Click the file you want to copy to select it, or drag your mouse across multiple files to select them all.
- Press Ctrl+C to copy the files.
- Go to the folder into which you want to copy the files.
- Press Ctrl+V to paste in the files.
2
Find the file you want to copy. Go to the location in which the file is located.
3
Select the file. Click once the file to do so.
4
Right-click the file. Doing so will prompt a drop-down menu.
- Some Linux versions will also display a menu bar at the top of the screen. If so, you can click Edit instead of right-clicking the selected file.
5
Click Copy. It's in the drop-down menu. This copies the selected file.
- You may click Copy... or Copy File on some versions of Linux.
6
Go to the destination folder. Find the folder into which you want to paste the file.
7
Right-click an empty space. This will create a drop-down menu in the folder.
8
Click Paste. It's in the drop-down menu. Doing so pastes in your copied file.

Community Q&A

Question

What option will allow me to copy the contents of /dir1 to /dir2 while preserving the modification times, ownership, and permissions?

Community Answer

You can try "-a" for an archive to preserve as much as possible. You can also do "--preserve" followed by a comma-separated list of attributes to preserve (or "--preserve all"). Finally, try "cp --help" or "man cp" for more options.

Warnings

Not all versions of Linux have a user interface. If your version of Linux has only a command line, you'll need to use the "cp" command to copy your files.

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