How the cd command works in Linux
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The cd command in linux stands for change directory
, and is used to change directory when you have a terminal window open. It's used frequently, so it is useful to know.
The syntax for the cd command looks like this:
cd [OPTIONS] directory
How the cd command works
At its most basic, when we open a new terminal window, we can use cd
to navigate between directories. Suppose we are in Documents
, and there is a subfolder called Project
. If we want to move into the Project
folder, we would type the following:
cd Project
And if we want to move back up to documents, we can use ../
- so assuming we are in now in Project
, the following command will bring us back to the Documents
directory:
cd ../
Using Relative Path Names with cd in Linux
While ../
refers to the directory one level above, ./
refers to the current directory. As such, if we are in Documents
and want to move to Project
again, the following command will also work:
cd ./Project
We can also string ../
together - so the following will move two directories up:
cd ../../
How to navigate to the home directory in Linux
If you want to navigate to the home directory in linux, we have to use the cd
command along with a tilde, or ~
.
As such, the following command will navigate us to the home directory:
cd ~
We can also navigate to directories within the home directory by following it with a slash, so the following will move us into a folder called Project
within our home directory:
cd ~/Project
Options for the cd command in Linux
There are two options available to the cd command which we can mention straight after we type cd
. These are:
-L
- which is by default enabled, and ensures recognition of symlinks within linux.-P
- which does the opposite of-L
and ignores symlinks.
What are symlinks?
Symlinks or symbolic links are virtual folders. They link to other folders in other directories. If we use -P
with cd
, then symlinks are ignored.
An example of a cd
command with symlinks disabled looks like this:
cd -P ~/Project
More Tips and Tricks for Linux
- How the mkdir command works on Linux
- How the touch Command works on Linux
- How to count all files in a directory in Linux
- How the chmod command works on Linux
- How the chown Command works on Linux
- How the which Command works on Linux
- Delete .DS_Store recursively from all directories and sub-directories
- How to Rename Files in Linux and MacOS Terminal
- Reference: Non Printable Characters List
- How the ls command works on Linux