Beginners Guide for PWD Command in Linux

The PWD (a.k.a. “present working directory”) will print the path of the directory you are currently working in, starting from the root directory to the current directory.

Tutorial Details

Syntax of the PWD Command

The PWD command requires only one flag, and that is optional.

$ pwd [OPTION]

The PWD command recognizes the following two options:

By default, PWD without any flag takes the “-L” flag in action to display the current working directory.

Printing the Current Directory Path

The following command will print the absolute path of the directory you are working in, from the root directory to the current working directory.

$ pwd

# OR

$ pwd -L

Output:

If you are working inside the symbolic directory, then the PWD command will print the symbolic link where you are currently working.

~/Documents/sampledir$ pwd

#OR

~/Documents/sampledir$ pwd -L

Output:

Printing the Actual Directory Path (Ignoring Symbolic Links)

If you want to print the actual symbolic link path where it is pointing, use the “-P” flag.

~/Documents/sampledir$ pwd -P

Output:

The “~/Documents/sampledir” is the symbolic link to the “/home/linuxtldr/sampledir” directory.

Finding the PWD Path

Execute the following command to print all the locations having the executable name “pwd” using the type command.

$ type -a pwd

Output:

Taking the /bin/pwd in Action

You can use the PWD command to print the current working directory, or the “/bin/pwd” command. However, both are a little bit different from each other.

For example, by default, the PWD command uses the “-L” flag to print the current working directory, but in the case of the “/bin/pwd” command, it uses the “-P” flag by default to print the path of the directory that the symbolic link points towards.

~/Documents/sampledir$ pwd

#AND

~/Documents/sampledir$ /bin/pwd

Output:

And you can specify the “-P” flag separately for the PWD command; the “/bin/pwd” command requires the “-L” flag to print the current working directory.

~/Documents/sampledir$ pwd -P

#OR

~/Documents/sampledir$ /bin/pwd -L

Output:

Echo $PWD Variable

The PWD command uses the $PWD environment variable to store the path of the current working directory, working like the “-L” flag.

~/Documents/sampledir$ echo $PWD

Output:

Printing the $PWD and $OLDPWD Variables

It will print the current and previous working directories as shown.

~/Documents/sampledir$ echo $PWD $OLDPWD

Output:

That’s all about the PWD command. If you have a query related to this topic, feel free to discuss it in the comment section.