Linux Commands Cheatsheet — Terminal Basics & Beyond

Linux & terminal commands cheatsheet.

Navigate, manage files, search, and inspect your system — the terminal commands worth knowing. Tap to copy.

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Navigating

pwdPrint the current working directory

ls -laList all files with details and hidden ones

cd <dir>Change into a directory

cd ..Go up one directory

cd ~Go to your home directory

Files & folders

touch <file>Create an empty file or update its timestamp

mkdir <dir>Create a new directory

cp <src> <dst>Copy a file or folder

mv <src> <dst>Move or rename a file or folder

rm <file>Delete a file

rm -rf <dir>Delete a folder and everything in it

cat <file>Print a file's contents

Search & text

grep "text" <file>Search for text inside a file

grep -r "text" .Search recursively through a folder

find . -name "*.js"Find files matching a pattern

head -n 20 <file>Show the first 20 lines of a file

tail -f <file>Follow a file as new lines are added

wc -l <file>Count the lines in a file

System & permissions

chmod +x <file>Make a file executable

sudo <command>Run a command as the superuser

ps auxList running processes

kill <pid>Stop a process by its ID

df -hShow disk space in human-readable form

du -sh <dir>Show the total size of a folder

man <command>Open the manual page for a command

The terminal, demystified

These commands work in bash and zsh on Linux and macOS (and WSL on Windows). The essentials — ls, cd, cp, mv, rm — get you around, while grep and find are the search workhorses. Be careful with rm -rf: it deletes permanently with no recycle bin.

FAQ

How do I search for text inside files in the terminal?

Use grep "text" for one file, or grep -r "text" . to search every file under the current folder recursively.

What does rm -rf do?

It removes a folder and everything inside it, recursively and without prompting. There's no undo, so double-check the path before running it.

Linux & terminal commands cheatsheet.

The terminal, demystified

FAQ

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