Terminal Cheat Sheet

• Instructive videos: WDI Terminal

Basic Commands

Command	Action
pwd	print working directory
ls	list content of current directory
ls -a	list content of current directory, including hidden files
ls -l	list content of current directory with extra details
man	manual
cd child-directory	change directory
cd ..	parent directory
cd ~	home directory
mkdir [name]	create a directory
touch [name.ext]	create a file - will not overwrite a file if it exists
open [name.ext]	opens file
clear	empties terminal screen
cat [name.ext]	displays content of file in bash (terminal)
mv [-options] [path/to/file] [path/to/directory]	move file to specified location
mv [-options] [path/to/file] [new name]	renames file or directory
cp [path/to/file] [path/to/directory]	copies files to specified directory or file name
cp -r [path/to/file] [path/to/directory]	copies files and folders to specified directory or file name
rm [path/to/file]	removes file PERMANENTLY!
rm -r [path/to/directory]	removes directory PERMANENTLY!
rmdir	removes empty directory PERMANENTLY!
[name of program] [arguments]	start a program (example: atom [path/to/file]), node [path/to/file] ...)
Ctrl + C	abort a program that is currently active in the terminal
Ctrl + A	jump to beginning of line
Ctrl + E	jump to end of line
Ctrl + K	clear the screen
tab	autocomplete
arrow up	fill line with previously entered command
arrow left/right	jump to next/previous word
q	end view of text in terminal (with some programs/views)
history	see a list of previously typed commands

Git Commands

Command	Action
git status	get current status for repo
git init	initialize a current folder as a repo, i.e. start tracking changes
git clone [link]	makes copied remote repo a new local repo
git add [path/to/file]	stage file
git commit -m ["message"]	commit changes and include a message describing commit
git log	display timeline
git diff [path/to/file]	show tracked but unstaged changes
git push origin main	send changes to remote repository (push to gitHub)
git pull upstream main	get latest changes from a remote repository

NPM Commands

Command	Action
npm init	initialize a directory with package.json file for saving dependencies
npm install [package-name]	install a package
npm i [package-name]	install a package
npm install [package-name] --save	install a package and keep a record of it in package.json . --save is not needed/the default in versions 5.0.0 of NPM and up
npm install [package-name] -g	install a package as a global terminal command. You may need your administer password/ us sudo to compete a global install
npm install	read package.json and install all listed dependencies

For reference: List of bash commands via University of Washington's System and Software Tools course