Dung (Donny) Nguyen

Senior Software Engineer

Common File and Folder Commands in Ubuntu

Ubuntu provides many useful terminal commands for working with files and folders. These commands help you navigate directories, inspect content, create files, copy items, move items, delete items, and search for what you need.

Check Your Current Folder with pwd

The pwd command stands for “print working directory.” It shows the full path of the folder you are currently in.

pwd

Example output:

/home/donny/Documents

List Files and Folders with ls

The ls command lists the files and folders in the current directory.

ls

Useful options:

ls -l      # Show detailed information
ls -a      # Show hidden files
ls -lh     # Show file sizes in a readable format
ls -la     # Show detailed information, including hidden files

Hidden files and folders in Linux usually start with a dot, such as .bashrc or .config.

Change Folders with cd

The cd command stands for “change directory.” It lets you move between folders.

cd Documents

Common examples:

cd ..          # Move up one folder
cd ~           # Go to your home folder
cd /var/log    # Go to an absolute path
cd -           # Go back to the previous folder

Create Folders with mkdir

The mkdir command creates a new folder.

mkdir projects

To create nested folders, use the -p option:

mkdir -p projects/java/demo-app

The -p option creates any missing parent folders and avoids an error if the folder already exists.

Create Files with touch

The touch command creates an empty file if it does not already exist.

touch notes.txt

You can create multiple files at once:

touch index.html style.css script.js

If the file already exists, touch updates its modified time.

Copy Files and Folders with cp

The cp command copies files or folders.

Copy a file:

cp notes.txt backup-notes.txt

Copy a file into another folder:

cp notes.txt backups/

Copy a folder and everything inside it:

cp -r project project-backup

The -r option means recursive, which is required when copying folders.

Move or Rename Files and Folders with mv

The mv command moves files and folders. It is also used to rename them.

Rename a file:

mv old-name.txt new-name.txt

Move a file into another folder:

mv notes.txt Documents/

Rename a folder:

mv old-folder new-folder

Delete Files and Folders with rm and rmdir

The rm command deletes files.

rm notes.txt

Delete an empty folder with rmdir:

rmdir empty-folder

Delete a folder and everything inside it:

rm -r old-project

Be careful with rm -r because deleted files do not go to the Trash when removed from the terminal.

View File Details with stat

The stat command shows detailed information about a file or folder, including size, permissions, owner, and timestamps.

stat notes.txt

Check File and Folder Sizes with du

The du command shows disk usage.

Show the size of a folder:

du -sh project

Show sizes of items inside the current folder:

du -h --max-depth=1

Common options:

du -s    # Summary only
du -h    # Human-readable sizes

Find Files and Folders with find

The find command searches for files and folders by name, type, size, or other conditions.

Find a file by name:

find . -name "notes.txt"

Find all Markdown files:

find . -name "*.md"

Find folders by name:

find . -type d -name "images"

Find files larger than 100 MB:

find . -type f -size +100M

In these examples, . means the current folder.

Search Inside Files with grep

The grep command searches text inside files.

Search for a word in a file:

grep "Ubuntu" notes.txt

Search recursively inside a folder:

grep -R "Ubuntu" .

Useful options:

grep -i "ubuntu" notes.txt    # Case-insensitive search
grep -n "Ubuntu" notes.txt    # Show line numbers
grep -R "Ubuntu" folder/      # Search inside a folder recursively

The ln command creates links between files.

Create a hard link:

ln original.txt copy-link.txt

Create a symbolic link, also called a symlink:

ln -s /path/to/original.txt shortcut.txt

Symbolic links are commonly used as shortcuts to files or folders.

Compress and Extract Folders with tar

The tar command is commonly used to archive and compress folders.

Create a compressed archive:

tar -czvf project.tar.gz project/

Extract a compressed archive:

tar -xzvf project.tar.gz

Common options:

c    # Create an archive
x    # Extract an archive
z    # Use gzip compression
v    # Verbose output
f    # File name follows

Useful Command Combinations

Here are some practical combinations you may use often:

ls -lah                         # List everything with readable sizes
mkdir -p backups/2026/june       # Create nested folders
cp -r project backups/project    # Copy a folder
mv draft.txt final.txt           # Rename a file
find . -name "*.log"             # Find all log files
du -sh .                         # Show current folder size

These commands cover many everyday file and folder tasks in Ubuntu. Start with pwd, ls, and cd, then gradually add commands like cp, mv, rm, find, and grep as you become more comfortable in the terminal.