How to Use the CD Command in Linux
The cd
command, short for “change directory,” is one of the most fundamental and frequently used commands in Linux operating systems. Its primary purpose is to navigate between different directories within the file system. By enabling users to easily switch from one folder to another, the cd
command plays a vital role in file management and system navigation. Here are several ways the cd
command can be used.
General syntax for cd
command:
$ cd [DIRECTORY...]
1. Go to immediate parent directory
cd ..
This command will get your from current directory to a directory before this.
Example:
$ pwd /home/username/folder $ cd .. $ pwd /home/username
In this example, the user was initially in the /home/username/folder
directory and moved up to the /home/username
directory by executing cd ..
.
2. Go to previous directory
cd -
This command will return you to the directory before the current. Think of it as the back button in your browser.
Example:
$ pwd /home/username/folder1 $ cd /home/username/folder2 $ cd - /home/username/folder1
In this example, the user first navigates to /home/username/folder2
and then uses cd -
to return to the previous directory (/home/username/folder1
), and the path to the previous directory is printed to the terminal.
3. Go to home directory
cd ~
The cd ~
command will bring you back to your home directory, regardless of which directory you are currently in.
Example:
$ pwd /home/username/folder $ cd ~ $ pwd /home/username
In this example, the user was initially in the /home/username/folder
directory and moved to the user’s home directory, /home/username
, by executing cd ~
.
4. Move two directories up from current location
cd ../../
Instead of doing cd ..
twice to go up two directories before the current, you can use just cd ../../
instead.
Example:
$ pwd /home/username/folder/subfolder $ cd ../../ $ pwd /home/username
In this example, the user was initially in the /home/username/folder/subfolder
directory and moved up two levels to the /home/username
directory by executing cd ../../
.
5. Go to directory with spaces in their name
cd directory\ name\ with\ space
or
cd 'directory name with space'
To cd
into directories with spaces in their name, you can either add left-backlash (\
) at the back each word, or wrap the directory name with single quotes (''
).
Example:
$ pwd /home/username $ ls directory name with space otherfolder $ cd directory\ name\ with\ space $ pwd /home/username/directory name with space
In this example, the user was initially in the /home/username
directory, then changed to the /home/username/directory name with space
directory using the cd
command with appropriate backslashes to escape the spaces in the directory name.
More Linux commands:
Directory Operations | rmdir · cd · pwd · exa · ls |
File Operations | cat · cp · dd · less · touch · ln · rename · more · head |
File System Operations | chown · mkfs · locate |
Networking | ping · curl · wget · iptables · mtr |
Search and Text Processing | find · grep · sed · whatis · ripgrep · fd · tldr |
System Information and Management | env · history · top · who · htop · glances · lsof |
User and Session Management | screen · su · sudo · open |