aws-s3-mv

Move files to, from, and between S3 buckets

TLDR

Move a local file to S3

$ aws s3 mv [file.txt] s3://[bucket-name]/

Move an S3 object to another S3 location

$ aws s3 mv s3://[bucket-name]/[file.txt] s3://[bucket-name]/[new-path/file.txt]

Download and delete an S3 object

$ aws s3 mv s3://[bucket-name]/[file.txt] [./local-file.txt]

Recursively move a directory to S3

$ aws s3 mv [./local-dir] s3://[bucket-name]/[prefix/] --recursive

Move excluding certain files

$ aws s3 mv [./local-dir] s3://[bucket-name]/ --recursive --exclude "*.log"

Preview move operation without executing

$ aws s3 mv [./local-dir] s3://[bucket-name]/ --recursive --dryrun

SYNOPSIS

aws s3 mv source destination [options]

aws s3 mv moves files between the local filesystem and Amazon S3, or between S3 locations. The command copies the source to the destination and then deletes the source object or file.The source and destination can be a LocalPath or an S3Uri (s3://bucket-name/key). For S3 to S3 moves, the command performs a server-side copy followed by deletion of the source.

PARAMETERS

--recursive

Move all files and objects under the specified directory or S3 prefix

--dryrun

Display operations that would be performed without executing them

--quiet

Suppress output during the move operation

--include pattern

Include files matching the pattern (used with --exclude)

--exclude pattern

Exclude files matching the pattern from the move operation

--acl value

Set access control list: private, public-read, public-read-write, authenticated-read

--storage-class value

Specify storage class: STANDARD, REDUCEDREDUNDANCY, STANDARDIA, ONEZONEIA, INTELLIGENTTIERING, GLACIER, DEEPARCHIVE, GLACIERIR

--sse value

Enable server-side encryption: AES256 or aws:kms

--sse-kms-key-id value

Customer-managed AWS KMS key ID for server-side encryption

--content-type value

Explicit content type for the object (overrides mime type guessing)

--metadata map

Key-value metadata pairs to attach to the object

--cache-control value

Specifies caching behavior along the request/reply chain

--no-overwrite

Prevent overwriting existing files at the destination

--only-show-errors

Display only errors and warnings in output

--no-progress

Do not display the file transfer progress

--follow-symlinks | --no-follow-symlinks

Whether to follow symbolic links when uploading (default: follow)

--no-guess-mime-type

Do not try to guess the mime type for uploaded files

--validate-same-s3-paths

Verify source and destination resolve to different locations (safety check)

CAVEATS

When using access point ARNs or aliases, ensure source and destination resolve to different buckets to prevent accidental self-deletion. Use --validate-same-s3-paths for safety. The source is only deleted after successful copy; if the copy fails, the source remains intact.