CP(1) General Commands Manual CP(1)

cp — copy files

cp [-R [-H | -L | -P]] [-f | -i | -n] [-aclNpSsvXx] source_file target_file

cp [-R [-H | -L | -P]] [-f | -i | -n] [-aclNpSsvXx] source_file ... target_directory

cp [-f | -i | -n] [-aclNPpSsvXx] source_file target_file

cp [-f | -i | -n] [-aclNPpSsvXx] source_file ... target_directory

In the first synopsis form, the cp utility copies the contents of the source_file to the target_file. In the second synopsis form, the contents of each named source_file is copied to the destination target_directory. The names of the files themselves are not changed. If cp detects an attempt to copy a file to itself, the copy will fail.

The following options are available:

If the -R option is specified, symbolic links on the command line are followed. (Symbolic links encountered in the tree traversal are not followed.)
If the -R option is specified, all symbolic links are followed.
No symbolic links are followed. This is the default if the -R option is specified.
If source_file designates a directory, cp copies the directory and the entire subtree connected at that point. If the source_file ends in a /, the contents of the directory are copied rather than the directory itself. This option also causes symbolic links to be copied, rather than indirected through, and for cp to create special files rather than copying them as normal files. Created directories have the same mode as the corresponding source directory, unmodified by the process' umask.

In -R mode, cp will continue copying even if errors are detected.

Note that cp copies hard linked files as separate files. If you need to preserve hard links, consider using tar(1), cpio(1), or pax(1) instead.

Archive mode. Same as -RpP. Preserves structure and attributes of files but not directory structure.
copy files using clonefile(2). Note that if clonefile(2) is not supported for the target filesystem, then cp will fallback to using copyfile(2) instead to ensure the copy still succeeds.
For each existing destination pathname, remove it and create a new file, without prompting for confirmation regardless of its permissions. (The -f option overrides any previous -i or -n options.)

The target file is not unlinked before the copy. Thus, any existing access rights will be retained.

Cause cp to write a prompt to the standard error output before copying a file that would overwrite an existing file. If the response from the standard input begins with the character ‘y’ or ‘Y’, the file copy is attempted. (The -i option overrides any previous -f or -n options.)
Create hard links to regular files in a hierarchy instead of copying.
When used with -p, suppress copying file flags.
Do not overwrite an existing file. (The -n option overrides any previous -f or -i options.)
Cause cp to preserve the following attributes of each source file in the copy: modification time, access time, file flags, file mode, user ID, and group ID, as allowed by permissions. Access Control Lists (ACLs) and Extended Attributes (EAs), including resource forks, will also be preserved.

If the user ID and group ID cannot be preserved, no error message is displayed and the exit value is not altered.

If the source file has its set-user-ID bit on and the user ID cannot be preserved, the set-user-ID bit is not preserved in the copy's permissions. If the source file has its set-group-ID bit on and the group ID cannot be preserved, the set-group-ID bit is not preserved in the copy's permissions. If the source file has both its set-user-ID and set-group-ID bits on, and either the user ID or group ID cannot be preserved, neither the set-user-ID nor set-group-ID bits are preserved in the copy's permissions.

Do not attempt to preserve holes in sparse files.
Create symbolic links to regular files in a hierarchy instead of copying.
Cause cp to be verbose, showing files as they are copied.
Do not copy Extended Attributes (EAs) or resource forks.
File system mount points are not traversed.

For each destination file that already exists, its contents are overwritten if permissions allow. Its mode, user ID, and group ID are unchanged unless the -p option was specified.

In the second synopsis form, target_directory must exist unless there is only one named source_file which is a directory and the -R flag is specified.

If the destination file does not exist, the mode of the source file is used as modified by the file mode creation mask (umask, see csh(1)). If the source file has its set-user-ID bit on, that bit is removed unless both the source file and the destination file are owned by the same user. If the source file has its set-group-ID bit on, that bit is removed unless both the source file and the destination file are in the same group and the user is a member of that group. If both the set-user-ID and set-group-ID bits are set, all of the above conditions must be fulfilled or both bits are removed.

Appropriate permissions are required for file creation or overwriting.

Symbolic links are always followed unless the -R flag is set, in which case symbolic links are not followed, by default. The -H or -L flags (in conjunction with the -R flag) cause symbolic links to be followed as described above. The -H, -L and -P options are ignored unless the -R option is specified. In addition, these options override each other and the command's actions are determined by the last one specified.

If cp receives a SIGINFO (see the status argument for stty(1)) signal, the current input and output file and the percentage complete will be written to the standard output.

If cp encounters an I/O error during the copy, then cp may leave a partially copied target_file in place. cp specifically avoids cleaning up the output file in error cases to avoid further data loss in cases where the source may not be recoverable. Alternatives, like install(1), may be preferred if stronger guarantees about the target_file are required.

The cp utility exits 0 on success, and >0 if an error occurs.

Make a copy of file foo named bar:

$ cp foo bar

Copy a group of files to the /tmp directory:

$ cp *.txt /tmp

Copy the directory junk and all of its contents (including any subdirectories) to the /tmp directory:

$ cp -R junk /tmp

Historic versions of the cp utility had a -r option. This implementation supports that option, however, its behavior is different from historical FreeBSD behavior. Use of this option is strongly discouraged as the behavior is implementation-dependent. In FreeBSD, -r is a synonym for -RL and works the same unless modified by other flags. Historical implementations of -r differ as they copy special files as normal files while recreating a hierarchy.

The -a, -c, -l, -N, -n, -S, -s, -v, -X, and -x options are non-standard and their use in scripts is not recommended.

In legacy mode, -f will override -i. Also, under the -f option, the target file is always unlinked before the copy. Thus, new access rights will always be set.

In -R mode, copying will terminate if an error is encountered.

For more information about legacy mode, see compat(5).

install(1), mv(1), rcp(1), clonefile(2), copyfile(2), umask(2), fts(3), compat(5), symlink(7)

The cp command is expected to be IEEE Std 1003.2 (“POSIX.2”) compatible.

A cp command appeared in Version 1 AT&T UNIX.

March 28, 2024 macOS 15.6