25 Essential Linux Commands Every Beginner Should Know

Overview

Linux provides a rich set of short, powerful commands that let users interact with the operating system efficiently. The following 25 commands are essential for anyone starting to use Linux.

1. ls

Lists files and directories in the current working directory. It can be run without parameters to display all entries.

2. pwd

Prints the absolute path of the current working directory, useful for confirming your location in scripts.

3. mkdir

Creates a new directory. mkdir demo007 Example workflow:

❯ mkdir demo007
❯ pwd
/Users/oo7/test
❯ cd demo007/
❯ ls
❯ pwd
/Users/oo7/test/demo007

4. cd

Changes the current directory. Without arguments it returns to the home directory. Requires appropriate permissions.

5. rmdir

Removes an empty directory. The user must have sudo privileges on the parent directory.

❯ rmdir demo007/

6. cp

Copies files, similar to Windows copy‑paste.

7. mv

Renames or moves files.

8. rm

Deletes files or directories.

9. uname

Displays basic operating system information.

uname
Darwin

10. locate

Searches a database for files matching a pattern, e.g., locate first file.

11. touch

Creates an empty file.

12. ln

Creates hard or symbolic links to other files.

13. cat

Outputs the contents of a file to the terminal.

14. clear

Clears the terminal screen.

15. ps

Shows active processes.

16. man

Displays the manual page for a command, e.g., man ls.

17. grep

Searches for a specific string in output, e.g., cat Files.txt | grep "new".

18. echo

Prints text to the terminal.

19. wget

Downloads files from the internet without blocking other processes.

wget http://sample.com/sample-menu.php

20. whoami

Shows the current user name.

21. sort

Sorts the lines of a file alphabetically.

22. cal

Displays a calendar for a given month.

23. whereis

Finds the location of a command's binary, source, and manual pages.

24. df

Shows file system disk space usage. Using df -h makes the output human‑readable.

25. wc

Counts words, lines, or characters in a file. Common options are wc -w, wc -l, and wc -m.

Example:

touch sample.txt
echo "This is a six word sentence" > sample.txt
wc -w sample.txt

Conclusion

These commands form a solid foundation for everyday Linux use. Practicing them will help beginners become comfortable with the terminal and prepare them for more advanced tasks.