Create and Manage Files in Linux

The essential commands

Create files

The touch command makes an empty file:

touch test.txt

The file appears in the current folder. To make a file with content, open a text editor such as nano:

nano test.txt

Type your text, press Ctrl + O to save and Ctrl + X to leave.

Create several files at once

touch test1.txt test2.txt test3.txt

You can also write text into a file with echo:

echo "Hello" > hello.txt

> replaces the content of the file. >> adds to the end.

Copy, move and rename

Copy a file (source first, then the destination):

cp documents/test.txt backup/test.txt

Copy a folder with -r:

cp -r documents backup/

Move a file to another folder:

mv test.txt documents/

Rename a file (a move to a new name in the same folder):

mv oldname.txt newname.txt

Delete files and folders

rm test.txt
rm -r old_folder
rmdir empty_folder

View a file

cat test.txt
less test.txt
head -n 10 test.txt
tail -n 10 test.txt

Quick recap

• touch and mkdir create, cp and mv copy and move.
• rm deletes for good, so be careful.
• Use ls, pwd and cd to find your way.