Terminal Survival Guide

Time: ~7 minutes | Difficulty: Beginner

What You'll Learn

• The 10 commands you'll use daily
• Tab completion (your new superpower)
• How commands differ between Mac/Linux and Windows

Windows Users

Use PowerShell (not Command Prompt) or Git Bash for the best experience. Git Bash gives you Unix-style commands on Windows.

The 10 Commands You Need

Navigation

Mac/Linux	Windows (PowerShell)	What It Does
pwd	pwd or Get-Location	Print working directory (where am I?)
ls	ls or dir or Get-ChildItem	List files and folders
ls -la	ls -Force or dir /a	List all files (including hidden)
cd folder	cd folder	Change directory
cd ..	cd ..	Go up one level
cd ~	cd ~ or cd $HOME	Go to home folder

File Operations

Mac/Linux	Windows (PowerShell)	What It Does
mkdir name	mkdir name or New-Item -ItemType Directory name	Create directory
touch file	New-Item file or echo $null >> file	Create empty file
rm file	rm file or del file	Remove file
rm -rf folder	rm -r -Force folder or rmdir /s folder	Remove folder and contents
mv old new	mv old new or Move-Item old new	Move or rename
cp file copy	cp file copy or Copy-Item file copy	Copy file

For This Bootcamp

Most commands work the same if you use Git Bash on Windows. We recommend Git Bash for consistency.

Be Careful

rm is permanent. There's no trash can. Deleted = gone.

Tab Completion — Your Superpower

Start typing, then press Tab:

cd Desk<Tab>     # completes to: cd Desktop
cd Dow<Tab>      # completes to: cd Downloads

If multiple matches, press Tab twice to see options.

Paths Explained

Symbol	Mac/Linux	Windows
~	Your home folder (/Users/yourname)	Your home folder (C:\Users\yourname)
.	Current folder	Current folder
..	Parent folder (one level up)	Parent folder (one level up)
/	Root of filesystem	Use \ or / (both work in PowerShell)

Examples:

Mac/Linux:

• Absolute: /Users/you/Desktop/project/file.txt
• Relative: ./project/file.txt

Windows:

• Absolute: C:\Users\you\Desktop\project\file.txt
• Relative: .\project\file.txt or ./project/file.txt

Practice Session

Mac/Linux/Git Bash

# Where are you?
pwd

# Go to Desktop
cd ~/Desktop

# Create a practice folder
mkdir terminal-practice
cd terminal-practice

# Create some files
touch file1.txt
touch file2.txt

# See your files
ls

# Rename a file
mv file1.txt important.txt
ls

# Go up and clean up
cd ..
rm -rf terminal-practice

Windows PowerShell

# Where are you?
pwd

# Go to Desktop
cd ~\Desktop

# Create a practice folder
mkdir terminal-practice
cd terminal-practice

# Create some files
New-Item file1.txt
New-Item file2.txt

# See your files
ls

# Rename a file
mv file1.txt important.txt
ls

# Go up and clean up
cd ..
rm -r -Force terminal-practice

Keyboard Shortcuts

Shortcut	Action
Tab	Autocomplete
↑ / ↓	Previous/next command
Ctrl+C	Cancel current command
Ctrl+L or clear	Clear screen
Ctrl+A	Go to line start
Ctrl+E	Go to line end

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