# Jumping Around: cd -, pushd and \*\* cd - switches between two folders, pushd and popd keep a stack of folders to come back to, \*\* reaches into every folder below once globstar is on, and CDPATH lets cd find a project's folders from anywhere. Journeyman · Unix · Linux · Updated November 10, 2026 ## After this lesson you can - Switch between folders with cd -, and keep a stack of folders with pushd, popd and dirs - Reach into every folder below with \*\* after shopt -s globstar, and reach chosen folders from anywhere with CDPATH ## Key takeaways - cd - goes back to the folder you were in before, so using it again brings you back. It's made for two folders you switch between. - pushd goes into a folder and remembers where you were, like a plate put on a stack. popd takes the top plate off and takes you back. - dirs -v lists the stack, numbered from 0, which is the folder you're in now. - After shopt -s globstar, ** matches any number of folders, so ls raw/**/*.jpg finds every .jpg below raw. zsh does it without the setting. - CDPATH is a list of folders cd also looks in. Keep . first in it, and don't export it. The photo project keeps each photo in two places, four folders deep: the original in `raw/2026/05-may/beach`, the edited copy in `edited/2026/05-may/beach`. Editing means going back and forth between them, with a trip to `exports/web` now and then. Typing those paths each time, even with Tab, gets old fast. A developer works the same way, with the code in one folder, its settings in another and the logs in a third. bash has a way back, a stack to remember places, a pattern that reaches every folder at once, and a list of favorite places for `cd`. The examples use the practice folder from *Keyboard Shortcuts at the Prompt*. ## cd -: back and forth *Moving Around: cd, .. and ~* showed `cd -`, which goes back to the folder you were in before. Use it again, and you're back where you started, so it flips between two folders: ```bash cd ~/terminal-practice/photo-project/raw/2026/05-may/beach cd ~/terminal-practice/photo-project/edited/2026/05-may/beach cd - cd - ``` ```text /home/sam/terminal-practice/photo-project/raw/2026/05-may/beach /home/sam/terminal-practice/photo-project/edited/2026/05-may/beach ``` `cd -` prints where it took you. It remembers one folder only: the moment you `cd` somewhere else, that's the one it goes back to. ## pushd and popd: a stack of folders To remember more than one place, think of a stack of plates. `pushd` (read "push d") goes into a folder and puts the one you were in on the stack under it. `popd` ("pop d") takes the top plate off and takes you to the one underneath. This stack is the **directory stack**. `dirs -v` lists it, numbered from 0, the folder you're in: ```bash cd ~/terminal-practice/photo-project pushd raw/2026/05-may/beach pushd ~/terminal-practice/photo-project/exports/web dirs -v ``` ```text ~/terminal-practice/photo-project/raw/2026/05-may/beach ~/terminal-practice/photo-project ~/terminal-practice/photo-project/exports/web ~/terminal-practice/photo-project/raw/2026/05-may/beach ~/terminal-practice/photo-project 0 ~/terminal-practice/photo-project/exports/web 1 ~/terminal-practice/photo-project/raw/2026/05-may/beach 2 ~/terminal-practice/photo-project ``` Each `pushd` prints the whole stack on one line, newest first, with `~` for your home folder. Now come back the way you went: ```bash popd pwd ``` ```text ~/terminal-practice/photo-project/raw/2026/05-may/beach ~/terminal-practice/photo-project /home/sam/terminal-practice/photo-project/raw/2026/05-may/beach ``` One more `popd` takes you back to `photo-project`. Use `pushd` for a side trip you'll want to come back from, and `cd` when you're not coming back. ![The directory stack drawn as three plates, newest on top: 0 is ~/terminal-practice/photo-project/exports/web, 1 is ~/terminal-practice/photo-project/raw/2026/05-may/beach and 2 is ~/terminal-practice/photo-project. pushd puts a plate on top and goes there; popd takes the top plate off and goes to the one under it](https://fsdtrainingmedia.blob.core.windows.net/public/images/2026/11/bf366ad4b01449839c547c3311cd67b6.webp) ## \*\*: every folder below `*` matches any name in one folder (*Wildcards: \*, ? and [ ]*). To reach every photo below `raw`, however deep, bash has `**` (read "star star"). Out of the box, bash treats `**` like `*`, so this looks for `.jpg` files one folder down only, in `raw/2026`, and finds none: ```bash cd ~/terminal-practice/photo-project ls raw/**/*.jpg ``` ```text ls: cannot access 'raw/**/*.jpg': No such file or directory ``` The wording of that error differs from system to system. Turn on the `globstar` setting with `shopt -s globstar`, and `**` matches any number of folders, none included: ```bash shopt -s globstar ls raw/**/*.jpg ``` ```text raw/2026/04-april/park/IMG_0412.jpg raw/2026/05-may/beach/IMG_0502.jpg raw/2026/04-april/park/IMG_0413.jpg raw/2026/05-may/beach/IMG_0503.jpg raw/2026/04-april/park/IMG_0414.jpg raw/2026/06-june/lake/IMG_0620.jpg raw/2026/05-may/beach/IMG_0501.jpg raw/2026/06-june/lake/IMG_0621.jpg ``` Every copy of one photo, raw and edited, anywhere in the project: ```bash ls **/IMG_0501* ``` ```text edited/2026/05-may/beach/IMG_0501-edit.jpg raw/2026/05-may/beach/IMG_0501.jpg ``` `find` (*Finding Files: find*) can do this too, and more. `**` is shorter to type, and works with any command. In zsh, `**` works without any setting. ## CDPATH: a project's folders from anywhere `CDPATH` is a list of folders, separated by `:`, where `cd` also looks for the name you give it. With the project in it, its folders are one short `cd` away from anywhere. `$HOME` is your home folder's path: ```bash CDPATH=.:$HOME/terminal-practice/photo-project cd ~ cd exports cd edited cd 2026 cd beach ``` ```text /home/sam/terminal-practice/photo-project/exports /home/sam/terminal-practice/photo-project/edited /home/sam/terminal-practice/photo-project/edited/2026 bash: cd: beach: No such file or directory ``` `cd` prints the path when it found the folder through `CDPATH`. The `.` at the front means "the folder I'm in" is checked first, which is how `cd 2026` found `edited/2026`. Leave it out, and `cd` can go somewhere you didn't expect. And `cd beach` failed: `CDPATH` looks only at the folders right inside the ones it lists. To keep any of these settings, add `shopt -s globstar` and the `CDPATH` line to `~/.bashrc` (*Startup Files: .bashrc, .zshrc and source*). Don't `export` `CDPATH`: scripts would get it too, and a script's `cd` could land in the wrong folder. ## Check yourself 2 questions to try on the lesson page. ## So what `cd -` flips between two folders, `pushd` and `popd` remember a side trip, `**` reaches every folder below, and `CDPATH` brings your project close, so a project four folders deep feels like one. ## Key terms - [cd](https://www.ask-codey.com/glossary/cd) - [Directory Stack](https://www.ask-codey.com/glossary/directory-stack) - [Glob](https://www.ask-codey.com/glossary/glob) - [CDPATH](https://www.ask-codey.com/glossary/cdpath) ## Cheat sheets - [Jumping Around: cd -, pushd and \*\*](https://www.ask-codey.com/cheat-sheets/bash-jumping-around-cheat-sheet) ## Related - [Moving Around: cd, .. and ~](https://www.ask-codey.com/lessons/bash-moving-around) - [Wildcards: \*, ? and \[ \]](https://www.ask-codey.com/lessons/bash-wildcards) - [Finding Files: find](https://www.ask-codey.com/lessons/bash-find) Source: https://www.ask-codey.com/lessons/bash-jumping-around