How to open and close directories in the Linux terminal | Opensource.com

How to open and close directories in the Linux terminal

Learn how to use the cd command to change directories with this Linux tutorial.

02 Aug 2021 Seth Kenlon (Red Hat) Feed 1 comment

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CC BY-SA Seth Kenlon

To open a directory on a computer with a graphical interface, you double-click on a folder. It opens, and you are now "in" that folder.

To open a directory in a terminal, you use the cd command to change your current directory. This essentially opens that folder and places you in it.

$ pwd 

/home/tux



$ ls

example.txt

Documents

Downloads

Music

Pictures

Templates

Videos



$ cd Documents

$ pwd

/home/tux/Documents

Close a folder

To close a directory on a computer with a graphical interface, you close the window representing that directory.

You don't have to close directories in a terminal, but you can always navigate away from a location you've made your current directory. The cd command, issued alone with no arguments, takes you back home.

bash$ cd

bash$ pwd

/home/tux

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Topics

Linux

Command line

About the author

Seth Kenlon - Seth Kenlon is a UNIX geek, free culture advocate, independent multimedia artist, and D&D nerd. He has worked in the film and computing industry, often at the same time. He is one of the maintainers of the Slackware-based multimedia production project Slackermedia.

More about me