Files and Folders

Introduction

Your files live in folders inside folders, like a tree. In the terminal you move through that tree by typing where you want to go.

Paths

A path is an address for a file or folder.

• An absolute path starts from the very top, written /. Example: /home/sam/Documents.
• A relative path starts from where you are now. Example: Documents/notes.

Shortcuts you will use all the time:

• . means the current folder
• .. means the folder above this one
• ~ means your home folder

Moving around

$ cd Documents
$ pwd
/home/sam/Documents
$ cd ..
$ pwd
/home/sam
$ cd ~

cd means change directory. On its own, cd takes you home.

Looking around

$ ls -l      # long list: size, date and permissions
$ ls -a      # also show hidden files, which start with a dot

Create folders and files

$ mkdir practice            # make a folder
$ cd practice
$ touch notes.txt           # make an empty file
$ mkdir -p projects/web     # make nested folders in one go
$ ls
notes.txt  projects

Everything after a # is a comment for you. The shell ignores it.

Tips that save time

• Press Tab to autocomplete file and folder names.
• Press the Up arrow to bring back your last command.
• If a name has spaces, put it in quotes: cd "My Folder".
• Names are usually case sensitive on Linux: Notes.txt and notes.txt are different.

Try it yourself

Create a folder called practice in your home folder. Inside it make two folders, a and b, and an empty file called todo.txt. Use ls to check, then use cd .. to go back up.

Summary

• Absolute paths start at /, relative paths start from where you are.
• cd moves, ls lists, mkdir makes folders and touch makes empty files.
• Tab completion and the Up arrow make typing faster.