codex-lv2-may-2025

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Moving Between Folders with cd

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The cd command lets you move between folders (directories). It doesn’t change the folder itself — it just tells the shell which directory you want to work in.

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Steps

1. Change to a different folder From your home directory, type:

   cd Desktop
   cd shell-lesson-data
   cd exercise-data
   

   Now you’re inside the exercise-data folder.

2. Check where you are The shell doesn’t show a message when cd works. To check your current location, type:

   pwd
   

   Example output:

   /Users/nelle/Desktop/shell-lesson-data/exercise-data
   

3. List what’s here You can now run:

   ls -F
   

   Example output:

   alkanes/  animal-counts/  creatures/  numbers.txt  writing/
   

4. Go up one level To move back to the folder above this one, type:

   cd ..
   

   Then check:

   pwd
   

   You should now be in:

   /Users/nelle/Desktop/shell-lesson-data
   

5. What went wrong here? If you try this:

   cd shell-lesson-data
   

   while already inside exercise-data, it won’t work:

   -bash: cd: shell-lesson-data: No such file or directory
   

   That’s because shell-lesson-data is not inside exercise-data. You can only cd into folders that are inside your current folder.

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Notes

• cd folder-name moves into a folder.
• cd .. moves up to the parent folder.
• pwd shows your current location.
• ls -F lists what’s in the current folder.

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