by LARP LAB TH
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Move around

List what's in a folder, walk into it and walk back out with ls and cd.

Lesson 2 of 310 min

LARP it

Mission. The files you’re after are somewhere on this machine. Search the folders one by one, read what’s inside, and get back to where you started without getting lost.

ls
cd Desktop
pwd
ls -la
cd ..
pwd
cd ~

If Desktop doesn’t exist on your machine, pick any folder name that ls showed you.

Learn it

ls lists what’s in the current folder. Add flags after a dash to change how it works:

Command Shows
ls names of files and folders
ls -l a long list: permissions, owner, size, date changed
ls -a all, including hidden files whose names start with .
ls -la both at once: flags can be combined

cd means change directory. It moves the shell into another folder. It prints nothing when it works; run pwd to see where you landed.

A few names have special meanings:

  • . is the folder you’re in.
  • .. is the folder one level up (the parent).
  • ~ is your home folder. cd with nothing after it also takes you home.

Paths. Desktop is a relative path: it’s looked up from where you are now. /Users/you/Desktop (or /home/you/Desktop) is an absolute path: it starts at /, the top of the whole file system, and works from anywhere.

If a folder name has a space in it, wrap it in quotes: cd "My Projects". Or type the start and press Tab, and the shell adds the escaping for you.

Check it

  1. From your home folder, go into a folder, then into a folder inside it. Now get back home in one command.
  2. What’s the difference between cd Desktop and cd /Desktop? (Try both.)
  3. Run ls -a in your home folder. Name one hidden file you didn’t know was there.