A collection of the most commonly used Unix commands with simple, practical examples. Quick reference for daily tasks and advanced operations.
ls
: List files and directories.
ls
ls -la
pwd
: Print the current working directory.
pwd
mkdir
: Create a new directory.
mkdir new_folder
rm
: Remove files or directories.
rm file.txt
rm -r folder_name
cp
: Copy files or directories.
cp source.txt destination.txt
cp -r folder1 folder2
mv
: Move or rename files or directories.
mv old_name.txt new_name.txt
mv file.txt /destination/path/
touch
: Create an empty file.
touch file.txt
open
: Open files or applications.
open file.txt
open -a "Safari"
find
: Search for files and directories.
find . -name "*.txt"
cat
: Display the content of a file.
cat file.txt
less
: View file content one screen at a time.
less file.txt
head
: Show the first 10 lines of a file.
head file.txt
tail
: Show the last 10 lines of a file.
tail file.txt
wc
: Word, line, character count.
wc file.txt
wc -l file.txt
grep
: Search for patterns in a file.
grep "pattern" file.txt
diff
: Compare two files.
diff file1.txt file2.txt
df
: Disk space usage.
df -h
du
: Disk usage of a directory.
du -sh folder_name
top
: Display running processes.
top
ps
: View running processes.
ps -aux
kill
: Terminate a process.
kill PID
uptime
: Show system uptime.
uptime
who
: Show logged-in users.
who
date
: Display current date and time.
date
cal
: Show the calendar.
cal
hostname
: Display the computer's hostname.
hostname
ping
: Test network connectivity.
ping google.com
ifconfig
: View network configuration.
ifconfig
curl
: Make HTTP requests.
curl https://example.com
wget
: Download files from the web.
wget https://example.com/file.zip
scp
: Securely copy files between systems.
scp file.txt user@host:/path/to/destination
uptime
: Show system uptime.
uptime
ssh
: Connect to a remote system.
ssh user@hostname
netstat
: View network statistics.
netstat -an
zip
: Compress files into a .zip archive.
zip archive.zip file1 file2
unzip
: Extract a .zip archive.
unzip archive.zip
tar
: Compress or extract tar archives.
tar -cvf archive.tar folder_name
tar -xvf archive.tar
chmod
: Change file permissions.
chmod 755 file.txt
chown
: Change file ownership.
chown user:group file.txt
sudo
: Run commands with elevated privilegas.
sudo command
sort
: Sort lines in a file.
sort file.txt
uniq
: Remove duplicate lines.
uniq file.txt
cut
: Extract sections of text.
cut -d ',' -f file.csv
awk
: Text processing and pattern scanning.
awk '{print $1}' file.txt
sed
: Stream editor for search and replace.
sed 's/old/new/g' file.txt
echo
: Print text to terminal.
echo "Hello, World!"
clear
: Clear the terminal screen.
clear
history
: Show command history.
history
exit
: Exit the terminal.
exit