Linux Commands & Keyboard Shortcuts Cheat Sheet

September 18, 2022

updated

February 17, 2025

Just a quick cheat sheet of basic and slightly less basic Linux commands, as well as handy keyboard shortcuts, that I maintain for myself since I can't always remember them all.

Common Commands
Basic Usage Examples
Advanced Commands & Usage
Handy Keyboard Shortcuts
Reference

Common Commands

Command	Effect
`man`	open “manual page” for specified command/utility (e.g. `man ls` opens ls command’s man page)
`clear`	clears the terminal screen
`ls`	list contents of directory (use `-a` to show hidden files, `-l` to show in long list format)
`cd`	change present working directory (`cd ..` to move back one directory)
`mkdir`	create new directory, multiple directories separated by spaces
`touch`	create new file(s)
`cp`	copy a file
`mv`	move a file, also the way to rename files
`rm`	delete files(s)
`rm -rf`	delete recursively, necessary for deleting directories and all contents in them
`du`	output sizes of files within a directory recursively (use `-m` for MiB or `-g` for GiB)
`cat`	output all lines of a file onto terminal
`head`	outputs first 10 lines of a file (use `-n` followed by a number to display different amount)
`tail`	outputs last 10 lines of a file (use `-n` followed by a number to display different amount)
`less`	opens file in its own “page” similar to `man`, rather than outputting to terminal like `cat`
`!!`	repeat last command
`date`	output system date
`uptime`	output system uptime
`whoami`	output current user
`which`	output path of a command, if present (e.g. `which nano` shows path of `nano`
`find`	search for files/directories matching a particular pattern (see usage examples below)
`history`	output history of commands used, numbered in order
`&&`	append between commands to run them in order (e.g. `apt update && apt upgrade`)
`df`	output used and available space on mounted disks in bytes (`-h` to show MiB, GiB, TiB)
`ps`	output of user-initiated processes and their process IDs
`top`	opens separate page showing real-time information on running processes
`kill {PID}`	terminate a running process, must specify the PID
`reboot`	reboots the machine (may require `sudo`)
`shutdown`	shuts down the machine (may require `sudo`)
`sudo`	append prior to a command to use with elevated privileges (e.g. `sudo shutdown`)

Basic Usage Examples

Command	Effect
`ls /path/to/directory`	list files in a specific directory
`cd /path/to/other-directory`	change from current working directory to another
`mkdir new-directory-name`	create a new directory within current working directory
`touch filename`	create new files, can specify file extension
`cp file /path/to/directory/file`	copy a file to another directory
`mv file /path/to/new-filename`	move (or rename) a file, leaves no copy behind
`rm -rf /path/to/directory`	delete a directory and it’s contents
`find /etc -name hosts`	shows any files in `/etc` with `hosts` in filename
`find /etc -type d -name '*.conf`	shows any directories (`d`) in `/etc` with `.conf` in filename

Advanced Commands & Usage

Command	Effect
`ln file1 file2`	creates a hard link between files, updates to either file syncs with the other
`ln -s file1 file2`	creates a symbolic link between files, but if original is deleted, symlinked file no longer works
`sadduser mary`	add new user (must be done by root or with `sudo`)
`usermod -aG sudo mary`	give a user sudo powers (must be done by root or with `sudo`)
`su mary`	switch to user (keep current environment variables)
`su - mary`	switch to user (new environment when using `-`)
`su mary passwd`	change user password (must be done by root or with `sudo`)
`ssh-keygen`	generate a basic SSH key pair