Files and Folders

Your Computer Is a Filing Cabinet

Everything on your computer is organized into files (documents, pictures, programs) and folders (containers that hold files and other folders). In the terminal, folders are often called directories — the two words mean the same thing.

Where You Are Right Now

Remember pwd? It shows your current folder:

pwd

When you first open lash, you start in your home directory. This is your personal space on the computer. You can always refer to it with the shortcut ~ (the tilde character). So ~/Documents means “the Documents folder inside my home directory.”

Moving Between Folders

The cd command lets you move into a different folder. It stands for “change directory.”

cd Documents

Now you are inside the Documents folder. Check with pwd to confirm.

To go back up one level (to the folder that contains your current folder), use two dots:

cd ..

To jump straight back to your home directory from anywhere:

cd ~

Or simply:

cd

Two Kinds of Paths

A path is the address of a file or folder. There are two styles:

• Absolute path — Starts from the very top of your file system, beginning with /. For example: /home/yourname/Documents/notes.txt. This works no matter where you currently are.

• Relative path — Starts from wherever you are right now. If you are in /home/yourname, then Documents/notes.txt refers to the same file. It is shorter, but only works from the right starting point.

Think of it like street addresses. An absolute path is the full address including city and country. A relative path is “turn left at the corner” — it only makes sense if you know the starting point.

Looking at Folder Contents

You already know ls. Here are some useful variations:

ls -l

The -l flag shows a long listing with extra details: file sizes, dates, and permissions (who is allowed to read or change the file).

ls -a

The -a flag shows all files, including hidden ones. Hidden files start with a dot (like .bashrc or .lash).

Creating Folders

Make a new folder with mkdir (make directory):

mkdir my-projects

You can create nested folders in one step:

mkdir -p my-projects/website/images

The -p flag means “create parent directories as needed.”

Copying Files

Copy a file from one place to another with cp:

cp notes.txt notes-backup.txt

This creates a copy called notes-backup.txt in the same folder. To copy into a different folder:

cp notes.txt ~/Documents/

Moving and Renaming Files

The mv command moves a file. It also doubles as a rename tool:

mv old-name.txt new-name.txt

To move a file into a different folder:

mv report.txt ~/Documents/

Deleting Files and Folders

Remove a file with rm:

rm unwanted-file.txt

Remove an empty folder with rmdir:

rmdir empty-folder

To remove a folder and everything inside it, use rm with the -r flag (recursive — meaning it goes into every subfolder):

rm -r old-project

Be careful with rm. Deleted files do not go to a trash can. They are gone for good.

Tab Completion for Paths

Typing long folder names is tedious. lash has tab completion to help. Start typing a path and press Tab:

cd Doc

Press Tab, and lash will complete it to cd Documents/ if that is the only match. If there are multiple possibilities, press Tab twice to see all of them. This works for files, folders, and commands.

Jumping with z

The z command is one of lash’s nicest features. It learns which folders you visit most often and lets you jump to them with just a keyword:

z projects

If you frequently visit /home/yourname/work/projects, lash will take you there instantly. No need to type the full path. The more you use lash, the smarter z becomes.

Quick Reference

Command	What it does
pwd	Show current folder
cd folder	Move into a folder
cd ..	Go up one level
cd ~	Go to your home directory
ls	List files in current folder
mkdir name	Create a new folder
cp source dest	Copy a file
mv source dest	Move or rename a file
rm file	Delete a file
rmdir folder	Delete an empty folder
z keyword	Jump to a frequently visited folder

Now that you can find your way around, let’s make lash look and feel the way you want.