How to Backup Files When Moving in Ubuntu Linux

When managing files in Ubuntu, accidentally overwriting important data during a move operation can be disastrous. This article explains how to safely use the move command by automatically creating backups of existing destination files. You will learn the specific flag required to preserve previous versions before replacing them with new ones.

The option that allows the mv command to create a backup of the destination file before moving is --backup. You can also use the shorthand version -b. When this option is enabled, if the destination file already exists, mv will rename the existing file with a backup suffix instead of deleting it immediately.

To use this feature, open your terminal and structure your command as follows:

mv --backup=existing source_file destination_file

Or simply:

mv -b source_file destination_file

By default, the backup file is created with a tilde (~) suffix. For example, if you move data.txt to a location where data.txt already exists, the original destination file becomes data.txt~.

You can customize the backup suffix using the --suffix option. This is helpful for identifying when the backup was created or distinguishing it from other backup files. The command structure looks like this:

mv -b --suffix=.bak source_file destination_file

In this scenario, the existing destination file will be saved as destination_file.bak. This ensures you retain access to the original content even after the move operation completes successfully. Using these options provides a safety net when managing critical files in the Ubuntu environment.