linux-cd.md

cd

This command changes the shell's current working directory.

To use:

cd [directory]

For example:

cd documents/subfolder1/subfolder2

As you can see, directories are separated by a slash /.

The parent, or the directory above the current one (in the example above the current would be subfolder2 after changing to it, and the parent would be subfolder1) is represented by ...

So if you start in documents/subfolder1/subfolder2,

cd documents/subfolder1

and

cd ..

are the same.

There is also a specially named directory that can be represented with a tilde ~: the home directory. The home directory is the default directory that you're automatically placed into upon starting your shell.

This means that if your username is testuser and your home directory is home these two will be equivalent:

    cd home/testuser
    cd ~

Also, it should be noted that trailing slashes in directory paths are optional. Therefore, the following are the same:

    cd documents
    cd documents/