How the CD Command Works in Linux

In this tutorial, we'll look at the cd command, which stands for "change directory." The cd command is one of the most commonly used commands in Linux.

Johnny Simpson

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Mar. 05, 22 · Web Dev Zone · Tutorial

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The cd command in Linux stands for "change directory." It is used to change the 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:

    PowerShell
   
   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:

    PowerShell
   
   cd Project

If we want to move back up to documents, we can use ../ - so assuming we are now in Project, the following command will bring us back to the Documents directory:

    PowerShell
   
   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:

    PowerShell
   
   cd ./Project

We can also string ../ together - so the following will move two directories up:

    PowerShell
   
   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:

    PowerShell
   
   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:

    PowerShell
   
   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:

    PowerShell
   
   cd -P ~/Project

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Published at DZone with permission of Johnny Simpson, DZone MVB. See the original article here.

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