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Course/Navigating the Filesystem/Changing Directories

Changing Directories

Learn cd to move between directories and pwd to verify your location.

Now that you understand the filesystem is a tree of directories, it's time to start moving through it. The command for that is cd — short for change directory. Give it a destination, and it moves you there.
cd projects
That's it. cd followed by the name of the directory you want to enter. Once you run it, your working directory changes — and that changes everything. When you run ls, it shows the contents of wherever you are now. When you create a file, it's created here. Your location is the context for every command you run.
cd projects
ls
# now shows what's inside projects/, not your home directory

Get into the habit of running ls before cd — look around to see what directories are available, then move into one. It's a natural pair.

You already know a command that tells you exactly where you are. Use it after moving — it's the best way to confirm you arrived where you intended.
Use cd to navigate into the projects/api directory, then verify your location.
Practice