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Git mv Command

git mv is like renaming a folder label and telling the teacher about the new name at the same moment, so nobody thinks the old one vanished.

In this page:

  1. Renaming a File
  2. Moving a File to a Directory
  3. Moving Multiple Files
  4. Forcing a Move or Rename
  5. Dry-Running a Move
Syntax
bash 
git mv old_name new_name
git mv file_name directory/

Renaming a File

git mv old-name.txt new-name.txt renames a tracked file on disk and automatically stages that rename in Git, doing in one command what would otherwise take a manual mv plus separate git add and git rm calls.

Example: Renaming a File

bash 
git mv old-name.txt new-name.txt

Moving a File to a Directory

The same command relocates files too -- git mv file.txt src/file.txt moves a tracked file into a different directory while keeping Git's history connected to it, rather than treating it as a delete-and-recreate.

Example: Moving a File to a Directory

bash 
git mv file.txt src/file.txt

Moving Multiple Files

You can move several files into one destination folder at once by listing them all before the target directory, e.g. git mv a.txt b.txt docs/, which stages every move together.

Example: Moving Multiple Files

bash 
git mv a.txt b.txt docs/

Forcing a Move or Rename

If a file with the destination name already exists, Git refuses the move to protect it from being silently overwritten; the -f flag forces the move anyway, replacing whatever was already there.

Example: Forcing a Move or Rename

bash 
git mv -f source.txt existing.txt

Dry-Running a Move

git mv -n old.txt new.txt performs a dry run showing what the rename would do, without actually touching any files -- a quick safety check before renaming something important.

Example: Dry-Running a Move

bash 
git mv -n old.txt new.txt
Related Topics

Git rm Command · Git restore Command · Git show Command · Git clean Command

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Common Mistakes
  1. Renaming a file in the file manager and then running git add only, when git mv old new does both steps at once (though Git can detect the rename either way).
  2. Running git mv on an untracked file, which fails with not under version control.
  3. Moving a file into a folder that does not exist, as in git mv file.txt src/file.txt, where the src directory must be created first.
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