cp: copy files and directories

Updated November 2026

cp copies files. With -r it copies whole directory trees, and with -a it keeps permissions, owners and times exactly as they were.

Common options

Examples

cp notes.txt notes.bak                  # copy a file
cp report.pdf ~/Documents/              # copy into a directory
cp *.jpg /srv/photos/                   # many files into a directory
cp -r project project-copy              # copy a directory tree
cp -a /etc /root/etc-backup             # exact copy, keeping owners and permissions
cp -i config.yml /etc/app/              # ask before overwriting
cp --backup=numbered app.conf /etc/app/ # keep the old file as app.conf.~1~ (GNU)

Things to know

• cp silently overwrites existing files unless you use -i or -n. Many distributions alias cp to cp -i for root.
• cp -r src dest behaves differently depending on whether dest exists: if it does, you get dest/src. To copy the contents of a directory, use cp -r src/. dest/.
• Copying as a normal user makes you the owner of the copies. Only root can keep the original owners with -a or -p.
• For large trees, network copies, or copying only what changed, use rsync. To move instead of copy, use mv.
• On file systems that support it (btrfs, XFS, ZFS), cp --reflink=auto makes instant copy-on-write copies that share data until one is changed.