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pushd

In Linux, pushd is a command used to manage the directory stack, which is a stack of directories that allows users to quickly navigate back and forth between directories. It works in conjunction with the popd command, which pops the top directory off the stack, and dirs, which shows the contents of the stack. The pushd command adds the current directory to the stack and then changes to a new directory, making it useful for temporary changes in the directory that you can easily return from.

Key Points:

  1. Directory Stack: The directory stack is a list of directories stored in memory, enabling users to go back to a previous directory using the popd command.

  2. pushd Syntax:

    pushd <directory>

    • If no argument is given, pushd swaps the current directory with the top of the stack (it essentially returns you to the previous directory).

    • If a directory is specified, it is pushed onto the stack, and the working directory changes to the specified directory.

Example 1: Basic usage of pushd

Let’s say you are in a directory /home/user and you want to navigate to /tmp and then easily come back to /home/user.

  1. Current directory:

    $ pwd /home/user

  2. Use pushd to change to /tmp:

    $ pushd /tmp /tmp ~ /home/user

    After running pushd, the output shows that /home/user is added to the stack, and the current directory is changed to /tmp.

  3. Check the directory stack:

    $ dirs /tmp ~ /home/user

    The dirs command shows that /tmp is the top of the stack, and /home/user is the second entry.

  4. Return to the previous directory:

    $ popd /home/user

    The popd command pops the top directory off the stack (which was /tmp), returning you to the previous directory, which is /home/user.

Example 2: Using pushd with no argument

When you run pushd with no arguments, it swaps the current directory with the top directory on the stack.

  1. Current directory:

    $ pwd /home/user

  2. Use pushd to change to /tmp:

    $ pushd /tmp /tmp ~ /home/user

  3. Now, use pushd with no argument:

    $ pushd /home/user ~ /tmp

    The pushd command swapped the current directory /tmp with /home/user, putting /home/user back at the top of the stack.

Example 3: Using pushd with a relative directory

You can also use pushd with relative paths. Let's assume you're in /home/user and want to go to /home/user/projects, a subdirectory.

  1. Current directory:

    $ pwd /home/user

  2. Use pushd with a relative directory:

    $ pushd projects /home/user/projects ~ /home/user

    Here, projects is a subdirectory of /home/user, and pushd took you to /home/user/projects while adding /home/user to the stack.

Summary

  • pushd changes your working directory and adds the previous one to a stack.

  • The stack allows easy navigation back to previous directories with popd.

  • You can check the contents of the stack with the dirs command.

  • Running pushd without an argument swaps your current directory with the top directory in the stack.

This is very useful for complex navigation scenarios, especially when you need to work in multiple directories but want to easily return to where you started.

Last modified: 01 January 2025
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