Directory Management in Linux (original) (raw)

Last Updated : 13 May, 2026

Directories in Linux are special types of files that store metadata mappings to other files and directories, organizing the filesystem in a hierarchical structure.

Directories act as containers for files and subdirectories.
The root directory (/) is the top-level directory in Linux.
Special directories like . (current directory) and .. (parent directory) are used for navigation.
Each directory can contain multiple files and subdirectories.

To manage directories in Linux based system, follow the given steps carefully :

Step 1. Creating Directories

To create a directory in Linux use the mkdir command which stands for make directory.

mkdir directory_name

Manage Directories in Linux

creating directory named 'GFG'

Step 2. Listing Directories

To list directories use the ls command. Adding the -l flag provides detailed information about each item, including whether it’s a file or directory. In the detailed output, entries that start with a ‘d’ (e.g., drwxrwxr-x) indicate directories.

**Commands:

ls -l

Manage Directories in Linux

List Directory

You can also list a directory's content by using ls command

ls path/to/directory

Manage Directories in Linux

List inside contents of Directory

Step 3. Removing Directories

To remove a directory you can use 'rmdir' but for that the directory must be empty

rmdir directory_name

To remove a directory which has contents in it use 'rm' with recursive flags '-r' or '-rf'

rm -rf directory_name

Manage Directories in Linux

Removing a directory and its content

This will delete the directory with all its content inside it.

Step 4. Changing Directories

To change directories you have 'cd' with various attributes.

cd Directory_name

If directory is somewhere else then give the path also with directory name.

cd /path/to/directory

Manage Directories in Linux

Changing Directory

To move back to last directory you were in

cd -

To move to the parent directory of your current directory use

cd ..

To move back to the default directory use

cd ~

To check in current directory use (while it has no much use case other than scripting but it is still useful to know it)

cd .

Step 5. Copying Directories

To copy a directory, use the cp command with the -r (recursive) flag to ensure all contents inside the directory are copied as well.
You can copy a directory from any location by providing the full path of both the source and destination.
This command works even if you’re not in the parent directory of the directory being copied.
Make sure you have the required permissions to access and copy the directory.

cp -r source_dir destination_dir

Manage Directories in Linux

Copying Directory

Step 6. Moving or Renaming Directories

To move or rename a directory, for both 'mv' command is used.
To move a directory provide the path of source directory and destination path. You can move a directory from and to anywhere, you just need to provide correct path with directory name which you want to move and the destination where you want to move, required you have permission to do so.

mv source_dir /path/to/destination

movingfolder

Moving Directory

To rename a directory you need to be present in the parent directory. just provide the old name and followed by new name.

mv old_name new_name

renamedir

Renaming Directory from 'GFG' to 'gfg'

Step 7. Checking Directory Size

To check a directory/files size use 'du' command and to get in human readable format (KB,MB,GB) use '-h' with it.

du -h

chck-size

Check Size