(dot) refers to the current working directory So if you know what directory you're in, you can use some shortcuts to get around. Relative pathnames start at the working directory (the one you're in). Note that this expansion will not be performed if the tilde character is in double or single quotes. The tilde character ( ~) takes the place of /home/ - it expands to the home directory of the user currently running the shell. You can also replace /home/ with $HOME, which will usually expand to the absolute path of the home directory of the user running the shell.Ī useful shortcut for this is cd ~/Downloads You can also replace it with the environment variable $USER which usually expands to the username of the user currently running the shell. To use the absolute path to go to Downloads, you can run: cd /home//Downloads There two basic ways to get around in BASH:Ībsolute pathnames start at the root directory, denoted by a leading /, and can be used from anywhere. From the Downloads directory, you can quickly return to your home directory by simply typing cd at the prompt.

Mac downloads folder location address