10 Most Basic Linux Commands You Should Know

July 22, 2023

Linux provides a powerful command-line interface compared to other operating systems such as Windows and MacOS. We can do basic work and advanced work through its terminal. We can do some basic tasks such as creating a file, deleting a file, moving a file, and more.

List of commands

  1. pwd
  2. mkdir
  3. cd
  4. touch
  5. cat
  6. mv
  7. ls
  8. rm
  9. rmdir
  10. clear

1. pwd

The pwd command is mostly used to print the current working directory on your terminal. It is also one of the most commonly used commands.

➜  ~ pwd
/home/Avaneesh

2. mkdir

This mkdir command allows you to create new directories in the terminal itself. The default syntax is mkdir dir_name and the new directory will be created.

➜  ~ mkdir new_dir

3. cd

The cd command is used to navigate between directories. It requires either the full path or the directory name, depending on your current working directory.

➜  ~ cd new_dir

To Naviagate One Level Up, Use This

➜  ~ cd ../

4. touch

The touch command creates an empty file when put in the terminal in this format as touch file_name

➜  ~ touch new_file.txt

5. cat

The cat command is the simplest command to use when you want to see the contents of a particular file.

➜  ~ cat example_file.txt
This is the content of example file

6. mv

The mv command is generally used for renaming the files in Linux.

➜  ~ mv example_file.txt renamed_example_file.txt

7. ls

The ls command is commonly used to identify the files and directories in the working directory. This command is one of the many often-used Linux commands that you should know.

➜  ~ ls
new_file.txt  renamed_example_file.txt

8. rm

rm command in Linux is generally used to delete the files created in the directory.

➜  ~ rm new_file.txt

9. rmdir

The rmdir command is used to delete permanently an empty directory.

➜  ~ rmdir empty_dir

10. clear

The clear command is a standard command to clear the terminal screen.

➜  ~ clear

After using the command

➜  ~