CD(1) | General Commands Manual | CD(1)

# NAME

`cd` —
change working directory

# SYNOPSIS

`cd` | [directory]

# DESCRIPTION

Since `cd` affects the current shell execution environment, it is always provided as a shell regular built-in. For more information consult the manual page for the shell in use.

The directory operand is an absolute or relative pathname which becomes the new working directory. The interpretation of a relative pathname by `cd` depends on the `CDPATH` environment variable (see below).

# ENVIRONMENT

The following environment variables affect the execution of `cd`:

`CDPATH`
  A colon-separated list of pathnames that refer to directories. If the directory operand does not begin with a slash (‘`/`’) character, and the first component is not dot (‘`.`’) or dot-dot (‘`..`’), `cd` searches for the directory relative to each directory named in the `CDPATH` variable, in the order listed. The new working directory is set to the first matching directory found. An empty string in place of a directory pathname represents the current directory. If the new working directory was derived from `CDPATH`, it will be printed to the standard output.
`HOME`
  If `cd` is invoked without arguments and the `HOME` environment variable exists and contains a directory name, that directory becomes the new working directory.
`OLDPWD`
  Set to the previous working directory after a directory change. Not supported by csh(1).
`PWD`
  Set to the current working directory.

# EXIT STATUS

The `cd` utility exits 0 on success, and >0 if an error occurs.

# SEE ALSO

csh(1), ksh(1), pwd(1), sh(1), chdir(2)

# STANDARDS

The `cd` command is expected to be IEEE Std 1003.2 (“POSIX.2”) compatible.

August 31, 2019 | NetBSD 10.0