Have you ever found yourself navigating through directories in the terminal and suddenly realized you need to go back to the previous directory? Don’t worry, we’ve all been there! In this article, I’ll show you several ways to go back in Bash and make your command-line navigation a breeze.
Method 1: Using the ‘cd’ Command
The most basic and straightforward way to go back in Bash is by using the ‘cd’ command followed by the ‘..’ argument. The ‘..’ argument refers to the parent directory of the current directory.
For example, let’s say you’re in the directory ‘/home/user/Documents’ and you want to go back to ‘/home/user’. Simply type:
cd ..
And voila! You’re now in the parent directory. You can continue using this method to go back multiple levels. For example, if you want to go back two levels from ‘/home/user/Documents’, you can type:
cd ../..
This will take you directly to ‘/home’.
Method 2: Using the ‘pushd’ and ‘popd’ Commands
If you find yourself frequently jumping between directories, the ‘pushd’ and ‘popd’ commands can be incredibly helpful. These commands allow you to create a stack of directories and easily switch between them.
Here’s how it works:
- Use the ‘pushd’ command followed by the directory path to add it to the stack. For example:
- This will not only change the directory but also save the current directory in the stack.
- To go back to the previous directory, simply use the ‘popd’ command:
- This will pop the last directory from the stack and switch back to it.
pushd /path/to/directory
popd
The advantage of using ‘pushd’ and ‘popd’ is that you can easily navigate back and forth between multiple directories without having to remember the exact paths.
Method 3: Using the ‘cd -‘ Command
If you want to quickly switch back to the previous directory you were in without explicitly specifying the path, you can use the ‘cd -‘ command. The ‘-‘ argument refers to the previous directory you were in.
For example, if you’re in ‘/home/user/Documents’ and you want to go back to the previous directory, simply type:
cd -
This will switch you back to the directory you were in before entering ‘/home/user/Documents’.
Conclusion
Navigating through directories in Bash doesn’t have to be a complicated task. With the ‘cd’, ‘pushd’, and ‘popd’ commands at your disposal, you can easily go back to previous directories and make your command-line experience more efficient. So go ahead, give these methods a try, and enjoy the seamless navigation in your terminal!