Navigating Linux

A few simple commands for moving around the Linux directory structure:

cd Change directory (very much as in the Windows command console). This can be followed by a directory name (eg cd users) which will take you to the subdirectory of the current directory by that name. You can also type in the full path (eg cd /mnt/c/) to go straight to a given directory. Typing ‘cd /’ (without the quotes) will take you back to root, while typing ‘cd ..’ will take you up one directory level. Remember that Linux uses forward slashes (/) rather than the backslashes (\) of Windows/DOS. ls List. Lists the contents of the current directory. mkdir Make directory. Create a new directory by typing the name of the directory after it (eg. mkdir backup). rmdir will delete a directory.