Creating and removing

Making things

mkdir makes a directory; touch makes an empty file:

mkdir notes
touch notes/todo.txt

After these, you have a notes folder with an empty todo.txt inside it.

Copying and moving

cp copies a file; mv moves (or renames) it:

cp hello.txt backup.txt
mv backup.txt notes/backup.txt

mv old new is also how you rename something — moving it to a new name.

Removing — carefully

rm removes a file. To remove a folder and everything in it, add -r (recursive):

rm backup.txt
rm -r notes

⚠️ There is no recycle bin on the command line. rm is permanent — always check before you delete.

Make a new folder called notes with mkdir notes. The check then lists the folder to confirm it appeared.

# make a folder called notes

Click Run to see the output here.

Make a copy of hello.txt named backup.txt using cp.

# copy hello.txt to backup.txt

Click Run to see the output here.

Next lesson →