Basic Navigation Concepts
Beyond typing full paths, the terminal provides shortcuts that make navigation faster and more intuitive. Understanding these symbols and conventions transforms you from someone who types long paths into someone who moves fluidly through the file system.
Special Directory References
Two symbols appear constantly in terminal work:
.(single dot) — represents the current directory..(double dot) — represents the parent directory (one level up)
These work anywhere you'd use a path:
Think of .. as "go up one level" — like walking from a basement to the ground floor, then potentially continuing to another room.
The Home Directory
Every user has a home directory — your personal space in the file system. The tilde symbol ~ is a shortcut to it:
~ expands to /Users/yourname on macOS or /home/yourname on Linux. Typing cd ~ or just cd takes you home from anywhere.
In PowerShell, ~ expands to C:\Users\yourname. The cd ~ command works the same way.
Hidden Files
Files and folders starting with a dot (like .gitignore or .config) are hidden by default. They don't appear in normal listings but contain important configuration data.
The -a flag (all) reveals hidden files, including . and .. themselves.
Tab Completion
Most shells offer tab completion — start typing a name and press Tab to autocomplete it. This reduces typing and prevents errors:
- Type
cd docthen press Tab → completes tocd documents/ - If multiple matches exist, pressing Tab twice shows options
Tab completion is transformative. Instead of typing /Users/alex/projects/website/src/components, you might type cd ~/pr<Tab>we<Tab>sr<Tab>co<Tab> — letting the shell fill in the rest.
Building Your Mental Map
With these tools, you can navigate efficiently:
cd ~— jump homecd -— return to previous directorycd ../..— go up two levels- Tab completion — let the shell help you type
The directory tree is the same structure you see in graphical file browsers. These shortcuts just help you move through it faster.