We use the **`git mv`** command in git to rename and move files. We only use the command for convenience. It does not rename or move the actual file, but rather deletes the existing file and creates a new file with a new name or in another folder.

# Syntax
We can use the `mv` command in git as follows:
## Rename file
```git
git mv options oldFilename newFilename
```
* `oldFilename`: The name of the file that we rename
* `newFilename`: The new name of the file



## Move file
```git
git mv filename foldername
```
* `filename`: The name of the file that is moved
* `foldername`: The name of the folder where the file is moved

# Options
The options we can use with the `mv` command are:
* [-f]: Force move or rename operation. Moves or renames the file even if another file of the same name exists.
* [-n]: Does not do the actual operation; only shows what would happen.
* [-k]: Skips operation that can cause an error.
* [-v]: Report the filenames as they are renamed or moved.


# Code
Consider the code snippet below which demonstrates the use of the `mv` command:

git mv file1.txt file2.txt

git commit -m "file1.txt renamed to file2.txt"

# Explanation
The code snippet above renames the file `file1.txt` to `file2.txt` using the `mv` command. The `mv` command does not rename the file. It deletes the file `file1.txt` and creates a new file `file2.txt` that has the same contents as `file1.txt`. This means that the code is just a shorthand for the code:


mv file1.txt file2.txt
git add file2.txt
git rm file1.txt

The `commit` command is used in *line 3* to save the changes of renamed file to the local repository.

How to rename or move files in git

We use the git mv command in git to rename and move files. We only use the command for convenience. It does not rename or move the actual file, but rather deletes the existing file and creates a new file with a new name or in another folder. Syntax We can use the mv command in git as follows: Rename file git mv options oldFilename newFilename   oldFilename: The name of the file that we rename newFilename: The new name of the file  