Master Shortcuts for Long Linux Paths: cd, pushd, popd & Alias Tricks

How to Deal with Very Long Linux Paths: Handy Tips

When using cd in Linux, navigating deep directories can be cumbersome. The cd - command quickly switches between the current and previous directory because it is equivalent to cd $OLDPWD, where $OLDPWD stores the last path.

If you need to switch among more than two directories, the pushd and popd commands, together with dirs, provide a stack‑based solution. pushd pushes the current directory onto a stack and moves to the specified one, e.g. pushd /path/to/target. You can view the stack with dirs -v, which lists directories with numeric indices.

Using pushd +N jumps to the directory at position N in the stack. popd removes entries from the stack; popd +N pops the directory at index N, while popd without arguments returns to $OLDPWD.

An alternative shortcut is to create an alias. The syntax is alias name='command'. For example, defining alias cdpath='cd /very/long/path' lets you type cdpath to jump directly to that directory.

To make the alias permanent, add it to a script (e.g., alias_cd.sh) and source that script from your ~/.bashrc (or the system /etc/bashrc) with a line such as source /etc/alias_cd.sh. After reloading the shell, the alias works in every session.

These techniques— cd -, pushd/popd, and custom aliases—significantly speed up directory navigation on Linux.