# Using the TerminalLearn how to master basic terminal commands on Linux, macOS, or Windows to navigate, manage your files, and control your system efficiently.

Tchoo tchoo

The terminal is a powerful tool for interacting with your operating system. Whether you’re on Linux, macOS, or Windows, learning the basic commands will help you better manage your environment and accomplish tasks more easily. In this guide, I present the most useful terminal commands along with examples. Feel free to follow the same steps on your side, adapting paths and options according to your system. ## Terminal Commands Let's start by opening a terminal window (PowerShell on Windows). On Linux distributions (and macOS), you can often open it with the “Ctrl + Alt + T” shortcut (or "Cmd + Alt + T"). ### pwd The `pwd` command **displays the current directory from the root**. ```bash {title="Terminal"} mowibox@chroma:~$ pwd /home/mowibox ``` Here, you can see that I’m in the `/home/mowibox` folder. This can be useful when you need to copy and paste the current path somewhere. ### ls The `ls` command **lists the contents of the current directory**. ```bash {title="Terminal"} mowibox@chroma:~$ ls Desktop Downloads Pictures Templates Documents Music Public Videos ``` In this example, you see several folders: `Desktop`, `Downloads`, etc. **On Windows**, the output looks more like this: ```bash {title="Command Prompt"} mowibox@chroma:~$ ls PS C:\Users\Mowibox> ls Directory: C:\Users\Mowibox Mode LastWriteTime Length Name ---- ------------- ------ ---- d-r--- 06/25/2025 15:57 Desktop d-r--- 03/14/2025 23:40 Documents d-r--- 06/27/2025 20:26 Downloads d-r--- 03/04/2025 21:21 Music d-r--- 06/27/2025 20:26 Pictures d-r--- 03/12/2025 15:53 Videos ``` For this tutorial, **we’ll illustrate commands in a Linux terminal**, so if you’re on Windows, don’t be surprised by the formatting: the commands work the same way. You can also add the name of a directory after the command to view its contents. Let’s try with the `Documents` folder: ```bash {title="Terminal"} mowibox@chroma:~$ ls Documents Folder_1 file.txt ``` You see the folder `Folder_1` and the text file `file.txt`. And this addition works for many commands we’ll see later! {{< callout context="danger" title="Warning" icon="outline/alert-square-rounded" >}} **Be careful with capital letters!** If your folder is called `Documents`, it will be different from `documents` or `dOCumenTs`. The system is said to be **case sensitive**: commands will only work if the name matches exactly. {{< /callout >}} ### cd The `cd` command **changes the current directory**. Let’s enter the `Documents` folder: ```bash {title="Terminal"} mowibox@chroma:~$ cd Documents mowibox@chroma:~/Documents$ ``` On each new prompt, the path `~` has become `~/Documents`, confirming you’re in the right place. You can list the folder contents again with `ls`: ```bash {title="Terminal"} mowibox@chroma:~/Documents$ ls Folder_1 file.txt ``` You see the same contents as before. To go back up one level, use `..` with `cd`: ```bash {title="Terminal"} mowibox@chroma:~/Documents$ cd .. mowibox@chroma:~$ ``` This returns you to the folder above `Documents`. {{< callout context="caution" title="Tip" icon="outline/bulb" >}} You can go up two levels with `cd ../..`, three levels with `cd ../../..`, and so on! Regardless of the current directory, you can also return to the home directory by typing `cd` or `cd ~`. {{< /callout >}} {{< callout context="caution" title="Tip" icon="outline/bulb" >}} * To save time, start typing the folder name (e.g., `Doc` for `Documents`), then press **Tab** to autocomplete. * If nothing or multiple suggestions appear, press **Tab twice** to list possible completions. {{< /callout >}} ### mkdir The `mkdir Folder` command **creates the folder `Folder` in the current location**. Let’s create `Folder_2` in `Documents`: ```bash {title="Terminal"} mowibox@chroma:~$ cd Documents mowibox@chroma:~/Documents$ mkdir Folder_2 mowibox@chroma:~/Documents$ ls Folder_1 Folder_2 file.txt ``` You can also create multiple folders at once. For example, `Folder_3` and `Folder_4`: ```bash {title="Terminal"} mowibox@chroma:~/Documents$ mkdir Folder_3 Folder_4 mowibox@chroma:~/Documents$ ls Folder_1 Folder_2 Folder_3 Folder_4 file.txt ``` {{< callout context="danger" title="Warning" icon="outline/alert-square-rounded" >}} Notice why you shouldn’t use spaces in file or folder names. What if you tried `mkdir Folder 5`?: {{< /callout >}} ```bash {title="Terminal"} mowibox@chroma:~/Documents$ mkdir Folder 5 mowibox@chroma:~/Documents$ ls 5 Folder Folder_1 Folder_2 Folder_3 Folder_4 file.txt ``` It created folders `5` and `Folder`. That’s why we use hyphens ('-') or underscores ('_') instead of spaces. ### rmdir Now we have unwanted folders—let’s remove them! The `rmdir` command **deletes an empty directory**. Let’s remove the extra ones: ```bash {title="Terminal"} mowibox@chroma:~/Documents$ ls 5 Folder Folder_1 Folder_2 Folder_3 Folder_4 file.txt mowibox@chroma:~/Documents$ rmdir 5 Folder Folder_3 Folder_1 Folder_2 Folder_4 file.txt ``` {{< callout context="caution" title="Tip" icon="outline/bulb" >}} You can also delete a folder that is not empty with the command `rm -r folder_name`, or even `rm -rf` to force the deletion of a protected folder. Since we’re talking about `rm`, let’s move on to that next! {{< /callout >}} ### rm The `rm filename.ext` command **removes the file `filename.ext`**. Let’s test it by creating a file. On Linux, you can use `touch` to create a file (we’ll cover that later). For now, let’s assume `goodbye.txt` exists and that it's nastily deleted (_it's only goodbye_): ```bash {title="Terminal"} mowibox@chroma:~/Documents$ ls Folder_1 Folder_2 Folder_4 file.txt goodbye.txt mowibox@chroma:~/Documents$ rm goodbye.txt mowibox@chroma:~/Documents$ ls Folder_1 Folder_2 Folder_4 file.txt ``` ### mv The `mv` command **moves or renames a file/folder**. Examples: * `mv Folder_4/ Folder_3` renames `Folder_4` to `Folder_3` (since `Folder_3` did not exist in the current directory). ```bash {title="Terminal"} mowibox@chroma:~/Documents$ ls Folder_1 Folder_2 Folder_4 file.txt mowibox@chroma:~/Documents$ mv Folder_4/ Folder_3 mowibox@chroma:~/Documents$ ls Folder_1 Folder_2 Folder_3 file.txt ``` * `mv Folder_3/ Folder_1` moves `Folder_3` into `Folder_1` (since `Folder_1` already exists in the current directory). ```bash {title="Terminal"} mowibox@chroma:~/Documents$ ls Folder_1 Folder_2 Folder_3 file.txt mowibox@chroma:~/Documents$ mv Folder_3/ Folder_1 mowibox@chroma:~/Documents$ ls Folder_1 Folder_2 file.txt mowibox@chroma:~/Documents$ ls Folder_1 Folder_3 ``` * `mv Folder_2/ Folder_1/Folder_4` moves and renames `Folder_2` to `Folder_4` inside `Folder_1` (since `Folder_4` did not exist inside `Folder_1`). ```bash {title="Terminal"} mowibox@chroma:~/Documents$ ls Folder_1 Folder_2 file.txt mowibox@chroma:~/Documents$ mv Folder_2/ Folder_1/Folder_4 mowibox@chroma:~/Documents$ ls Folder_1 file.txt mowibox@chroma:~/Documents$ ls Folder_1 Folder_3 Folder_4 ``` {{< callout context="note" title="Note" icon="outline/info-circle" >}} If the destination folder exists, **you’ll be prompted before overwriting.** {{< /callout >}} ### cp The `cp` command **copies a file or folder**. As with `mv`, there are several ways to use it: * `cp file.txt file_copy.txt` creates a copy in the same directory. * `cp file.txt Folder_1/file_copy.txt` copies into `Folder_1` with a new name. Or use `cp file.txt Folder_1` to keep the original name for the copy. * `cp -r Folder_1/ Folder_copy` creates a copy of the `Folder_1` folder named `Folder_copy`. ```bash {title="Terminal"} mowibox@chroma:~/Documents$ ls Folder_1 file.txt mowibox@chroma:~/Documents$ ls Folder_1 Folder_3 Folder_4 mowibox@chroma:~/Documents$ cp -r Folder_1/ Folder_copy mowibox@chroma:~/Documents$ ls Folder_1 Folder_copy file.txt mowibox@chroma:~/Documents$ ls Folder_copy Folder_3 Folder_4 ``` {{< callout context="danger" title="Warning" icon="outline/alert-square-rounded" >}} If the destination already exists, it will be **overwritten without confirmation**! {{< /callout >}} ### cat The `cat` command is used **to display the contents of a file in the terminal.** Let's take a look at the contents of the `file.txt` file, which has been waiting for its moment of glory since the beginning of this tutorial: ```txt {title="file.txt"} Hello Chroma! I love typing commands in a terminal! ``` We can use `cat` to display its contents: ```bash {title="Terminal"} mowibox@chroma:~/Documents$ cat file.txt Hello Chroma! I love typing commands in a terminal! ``` ## Linux‑only Commands The rest of the tutorial illustrates some commands that are **exclusive to Linux** and may be useful. Equivalents in Windows Powershell are provided where they exist. ### touch The `touch` command **creates an empty file.** It can have any desired extension: text file (.txt), Python (.py), Markdown (.md)... ```bash {title="Terminal"} mowibox@chroma:~/Documents$ touch file_2.txt ``` ### which The `which` command is used **to display the path of an installed program.** For example, let's find out where the `python3` program is located: ```bash {title="Terminal"} mowibox@chroma:~$ which python3 /usr/bin/python3 ``` The equivalent of the `which` command in Windows Powershell is `Get-Command`. ### find The `find` command is used to **search for files/folders in the tree.** ```bash {title="Terminal"} mowibox@chroma:~/Documents$ find . -name "file.txt" ./file.txt ``` Here we search the current directory (`.`) for all files called exactly `file.txt`. The equivalent of the `find` command in Windows Powershell is `Get-ChildItem` (or `gci`). {{< callout context="caution" title="Tip" icon="outline/bulb" >}} To be case-insensitive ("File", "FILE", "fILE", etc.), you can replace the `name` option with `-iname`. {{< /callout >}} ### grep The `grep` command is used to **search for a word or pattern in a file.** Let's search for the term "Chroma" in the previous file: ```bash {title="Terminal"} mowibox@chroma:~/Documents$ grep "Chroma" file.txt Hello Chroma! ``` The system displays the line of interest and highlights the word found. {{< callout context="caution" title="Tip" icon="outline/bulb" >}} Several very useful options can be combined with the `grep` command: * `-i`: Performs a case-insensitive search * `-r` : Searches all sub-folders in the current directory * `-n`: Displays the line number of occurrences found. Here's an example combining all three: {{< /callout >}} ```bash {title="Terminal"} mowibox@chroma:~/Documents$ grep -irn "chRoMA!" file.txt:1:Hello Chroma! ``` The equivalent of the `grep` command in Windows Powershell is `Select-String`. ## Access Permissions Each file/folder has **permissions** determining who can read, write, or execute it. Permissions apply to: * **user:** file owner * **group:** members of the file’s group * **other:** everyone else Three permission types: * **Read (`r`):** view contents * **Write (`w`):** modify * **Execute (`x`):** run a program or enter a folder On Linux, add `-l` to `ls` to view file and directory permissions: ```bash {title="Terminal"} mowibox@chroma:~/Documents$ ls -l total 4 drwxrwxr-x 2 mowibox mowibox 4096 Jun 30 10:19 Folder_1 -rw-rw-r-- 1 mowibox mowibox 0 Jun 30 10:19 file.txt ``` In : * Folder_1/, `drwxrwxr-x` means that: * `d`: it's a folder. * `rwx`: the owner has all rights (read, write, execute). * `rwx`: the group also has all rights. * `r-x`: other users can read and enter the folder, but not modify it. * file.txt, `-rw-rw-r--` means that : * `-`: It's a file. * `rw-`: the owner can read and modify the file (a text file cannot be run as a program, hence the absence of the `x`). * `rw-`: the group can also read and modify. * `r--`: other users can only read the file. ### chmod The `chmod` command is used to **modify the access rights of a file or folder.** To write it, there are two notations : #### Symbolic notation | Letter | Meaning | | ------ | ----------------- | | u | user | | g | group | | o | other | | a | all | | + | add permission | | - | remove permission | | = | set exact rights | ```bash {title="Terminal"} mowibox@chroma:~/Documents$ chmod u+x file.txt # add execute for owner mowibox@chroma:~/Documents$ chmod g-w file.txt # remove write for group mowibox@chroma:~/Documents$ chmod o+r file.txt # add read for others ``` #### Numeric notation | Digit | Rights | | ----- | ------ | | 7 | rwx | | 6 | rw- | | 5 | r-x | | 4 | r-- | | 3 | -wx | | 2 | -w- | | 1 | --x | | 0 | --- | ```bash {title="Terminal"} mowibox@chroma:~/Documents$ chmod 744 file.txt # owner=rwx, group=r--, other=r-- mowibox@chroma:~/Documents$ chmod 655 file.txt # owner=rw-, group=r-x, other=r-x mowibox@chroma:~/Documents$ chmod 520 file.txt # owner=r-x, group=-w-, other=--- ``` {{< callout context="tip" title="Did you know?" icon="outline/message-dots" >}} If you’re comfortable with binary, you’ll notice each triplet maps to a **binary number from 000 (no rights) to 111 (all rights).** {{< /callout >}} ## Summary Table of Commands This section acts as a **cheat sheet**, summarizing all the commands we've just seen in this tutorial. **Hope you'll find it useful!** | Command | Description | Example | Linux‑only? | | ----------------- | ------------------------------- | ------------------------------ | ----------- | | [`pwd`](#pwd) | Show current directory | `pwd` | No | | [`ls`](#ls) | List directory contents | `ls Documents/` | No | | [`cd`](#cd) | Change directory | `cd Documents/` | No | | [`mkdir`](#mkdir) | Create a directory | `mkdir Folder_2` | No | | [`rmdir`](#rmdir) | Remove an empty directory | `rmdir Folder_2` | No | | [`rm`](#rm) | Remove a file | `rm bonjour.txt` | No | | [`mv`](#mv) | Move or rename a file/directory | `mv Folder_4/ Folder_3` | No | | [`cp`](#cp) | Copy a file or directory | `cp -r Folder_1/ Folder_copy/` | No | | [`cat`](#cat) | Display file contents | `cat file.txt` | No | | [`touch`](#touch) | Create an empty file | `touch file_2.txt` | Yes | | [`which`](#which) | Show path to a program | `which python3` | Yes | | [`find`](#find) | Search for files/folders | `find . -name "file.txt"` | Yes | | [`grep`](#grep) | Search for patterns in files | `grep "Chroma" file.txt` | Yes | | [`chmod`](#chmod) | Change file/folder permissions | `chmod 744 file.txt` | Yes | --- ## Credits * **Writer:** [Ousmane THIONGANE](https://github.com/Mowibox) * **Reviewer:** [Gauthier BIEHLER](https://github.com/Minorzar)