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Basic Commands (and some options)

Change Directory

The cd command allows you to change the working directory in the terminal.

Examples

cd              # go to user's home directory
cd ~            # go to user's home directory
cd [path]       # go to some location (absolute or relative)
cd ~/Desktop    # go to the desktop using the absolute path

Print Working Directory

This command outputs the working directory (the current location in the terminal).

Example

pwd         # outputs absolute path of current directory

List

The ls command lists the contents of the working directory or can be used to provide certain details about any file.

ls                  # list non-hidden contents
ls -a               # list everything, including hidden contents
ls -l               # include the details about each file 
ls -al              # list everything in working directory with details 
ls -alh             # use human readable file sizes (i.e KB, MB, GB) instead of just bytes.
ls -l [filename]    # output the details about one file

Creating Directories and files

mkdir [directory-name]   # create a directory or multiple
touch [filename]         # create a file or multiple
rmdir [directory]        # remove an empty directory
rm [filename]            # remove a file or multiple
rm -rf [directory]       # remove a directory and everything inside of it

Example

The following example uses the above commands to nagivate the file system and create and remove files and directories.

cd ~                            # navigate to the home directory
cd                              # also navigate to the home directory
pwd                             # prove it
ls                              # look at the files in the home directory
cd Desktop                      # navigate to the Desktop 
mkdir programs                  # create a folder called programs
mkdir csc222                    # create a folder called csc222
cd programs                     # navigate into the folder called programs using the relative path
touch hello.py                  # create a file called hello.py
touch .gitignore                # create a hidden file 
touch .another-hidden-file      # create another hidden file
ls                              # list the files
ls -a                           # list the files, include hidden ones 
ls -l                           # list the files with details
ls -alh                         # list the files, include hidden ones, include details, make the size human readable (i.e. Kb, Mb, etc.)
ls -l hello.py                  # only list the info about hello.py
cd ~/Desktop/csc222             # navigate to the csc222 folder using an absolute path 
cd ..                           # navigate up one folder
cd programs                     # navigate back into programs            
rm .another-hidden-file         # remove the file
cd ..                           # navigate up one directory
rm -rf programs                 # remove the programs folder and everything in it (recursive, force)