Terminal basics

If you’ve never used a terminal, here’s what you need to know.

The terminal

The terminal or CLI (Command Line Interface) is just a text window where you type commands and the computer runs them. You type one line, press enter, see what happens, then type the next. That’s the whole loop. It’s an alternate way of interacting with your computer, instead of clicking buttons in a graphical interface.

Opening the terminal

On macOS, press Cmd+Space to open Spotlight, type “Terminal”, press Return.

On Windows, you’ll need Git Bash, which provides a Linux-like terminal. Download the Git for Windows installer from git-scm.com and run it. After installation, search for “Git Bash” in the Start menu. Don’t use the regular Windows Command Prompt or PowerShell for this guide; they handle these commands differently and some will fail.

On Linux (Ubuntu, Debian, Devuan, most distributions), it’s Ctrl+Alt+T, or find “Terminal” in your applications menu. But if you’re on Linux, you likely know that already.

Getting around

Once the terminal is open, a few commands are enough to get around:
pwd prints the current directory (where you are right now in the file system).
ls lists the files in it.
cd Downloads moves into the Downloads folder.
cd .. moves up one level.
cd ~ takes you to your home directory, if you ever get lost.

Note: Commands are case-sensitive on Linux and macOS, so Ls won’t work where ls does.

Working with files

Once you can move around, a handful more commands let you create files, look at them, and tidy up:
mkdir wallets makes a new folder called wallets.
cat notes.txt prints a file’s contents to the screen, which is how you check that a file looks right after you create or edit it.
cp a.txt b.txt copies a file; to copy a whole folder and everything in it, add -r, as in cp -r olddir newdir.
mv notes.txt Downloads/ moves a file into the Downloads folder, and mv old.txt new.txt renames it; either way mv overwrites the destination without asking, so check the name before you press Enter.
echo hello prints whatever text you give it, and in guides you’ll usually see it used to write a line into a file, which the guide will spell out when it happens.
rm a.txt deletes a file. There is no recycle bin in the terminal, so rm is permanent and the file is gone the instant you press enter; never run rm on something you don’t recognize, and be especially careful when it appears next to sudo or with -rf. The -r removes all nested files and subfolders; without it, rm can only delete files, not folders. And the f means do not ask for confirmation and override any warnings.

Keys that get you unstuck

A few keystrokes make the terminal far less tedious and pull you out of trouble. The Tab key autocompletes a file or folder name once you’ve typed enough of it to be unique, and pressing it twice lists the choices when more than one matches. The Up arrow brings back your previous command so you don’t have to retype it, and pressing it again walks further back through your history; the Down arrow takes you the other way. Ctrl+C stops a command that’s running or stuck and hands you back the prompt. The clear command wipes the visible text from your terminal screen, though nothing is actually deleted; your command history is still there (you can scroll up or use arrow keys).

Running commands as administrator

Some commands change system-wide settings and need administrator rights, which you get by putting sudo in front of the command. The terminal will then ask for your password. The password stays completely invisible as you type it, with no dots or stars to show progress; that’s normal and not a frozen screen, so just keep typing and press enter.

Reading multi-line commands

When a command in this knowledge base spans multiple lines connected by \ at the end of each line, that’s one long command; paste the whole block at once. When multiple lines look separate, run them one at a time.