cd command in Linux with Examples

cd is the basic command used by the Linux users. It is used to change the current working directory of a shell.

Syntax:

cd [-L|[-P [-e]] [[email protected]]] [dir]

Before reading this tutorial, you must know few basics about directories on a Linux system. Get the basic understanding about the absolute vs relative paths in Linux.

• Absolute Path is the full path of directory and always starts with / in Linux system. For example: /tmp, /usr/bin, /var/www etc.
• Relative Path is the partial path of any directory or subdirectory. It can be started from any location of file path except /. For example: www, ./script.sh, ../../www etc.

Now you must memorize these symbols and special characters use the cd command. What’re the symbols meaning when used with the cd command.

• Single dot (.) : current directory (present directory).
• Double dot (..) : parent directory.
• Tiled (~) sign : home directory of current users.
• $HOME variable: home directory of current users.

cd Command Examples

Here is more examples to use with cd commands on Linux system.

1. Sample cd command – Provide the remote directory path to switch current directory location of the working shell.

   cd /opt 
   

2. Using absolute directory path – Any directory path started with the root (/) file system is known as absolute directory path. In other words, you can say it full path.

   cd /opt 
   cd /data/backup 
   cd /var/www/html 
   

   All the above examples, uses directory location with root (/) are the absolute directory paths.

3. Using relative directory path – Any directory path refers from current directory is called relative path. The relative path never started with root (/) file system.

   cd backup 
   cd www/html
   

   In the above example, first command will change change to “backup” directory available under current directory. The second command will change to “www/html”, which is located in current directory.

4. Home directory – You can also use $HOME environment variable for navigation useful for the scripting. Here $HOME always refers to the home directory of the logged in user.

   cd $HOME 
   cd $HOME/public_html 
   

   The “~” also refers to the logged in user home directory and can be used with cd command.

   cd ~ 
   cd ~/public_html 
   

5. Using . and .. in directory path – The . refers to the current directory and .. refers to the parent directory except /root. This is generally used with relative paths.

   cd ./public_html 
   cd ../backup/files 
   

   The first command is same as “cd public_html” where second command navigates shell to backup directory available under parent directory.

   We can also use multiple .. (as much as required) to navigate to any directory structure.

   cd ../../../backup/files 
   

Conclsion

This tutorial descirbes you to uses of cd command on Linux system.