Boost Your Linux Navigation: How to Jump Up Directories Instantly with up.sh

When working in deep directory structures on Linux, manually typing cd ../../../ becomes tedious. The up.sh script provides a shortcut to jump to any parent directory without traversing each level.

Installation

Download the script and source it in your shell configuration:

$ curl --create-dirs -o ~/.config/up/up.sh https://raw.githubusercontent.com/shannonmoeller/up/master/up.sh
$ echo 'source ~/.config/up/up.sh' >> ~/.bashrc   # for bash
$ source ~/.bashrc

For zsh replace ~/.bashrc with ~/.zshrc, and for fish use the provided up.fish script:

$ curl --create-dirs -o ~/.config/up/up.fish https://raw.githubusercontent.com/shannonmoeller/up/master/up.fish
$ echo 'source ~/.config/up/up.fish' >> ~/.config/fish/config.fish
$ source ~/.config/fish/config.fish

Basic Usage

After installation, the up command jumps one level up by default:

$ up
$ pwd   # now in the parent directory

Specify a number to move multiple levels, e.g., up 3 goes up three directories.

Targeted Jump

You can jump directly to a directory by name, without counting levels. The script matches the first occurrence of the given name in the path:

$ up projects   # jumps to the nearest "projects" directory

If the directory name is long, provide only a unique prefix:

$ up pr   # matches "projects"

Tab Completion

Pressing the Tab key after up lists possible parent directories, making selection even faster.

Conclusion

The up.sh script is a lightweight, cross‑shell utility that dramatically speeds up directory navigation in Linux, especially when dealing with long paths.