terminal 101: a beginner's guide to the command line terminal 101: คู่มือเริ่มต้นใช้ command line สำหรับมือใหม่

you’ve always used your computer by clicking icons, dragging files, and tapping buttons. that works fine — but underneath all of that, your computer also understands text commands. the icons and buttons are another layer on top.

a terminal removes the wrapper and lets you talk directly.

why should i care?

if you’re getting into programming, AI tools, or developer workflows, you’re going to run into the terminal. tools like git, node, python, and claude code show up here constantly. learning 6 commands won’t teach you everything, but it will make the terminal feel much less foreign.

what is a terminal?

a terminal is a window where you type instructions to your computer instead of clicking.

• GUI (what you’re used to) = visual interface with buttons, menus, windows — you click
• Terminal = text interface where you type commands — the computer responds with text

that’s it. same computer, different interface.

how to open it

if you’re on Windows, this lesson assumes PowerShell — either the standalone PowerShell app or a PowerShell tab inside Windows Terminal.

• Mac: press Cmd + Space, type “Terminal”, hit Enter
• Windows: press the Start key, open “Windows Terminal” or “PowerShell”, then use a PowerShell tab

what you’ll know by the end

• how to see where you are (pwd) and what’s around you (ls / dir)
• how to move between folders with cd and cd ..
• how to create a folder with mkdir and clear the screen
• how to read file paths (/, ., .., and ~)
• a few common mistakes that trip up beginners

what this assumes

nothing. this is the first post. if you can open Terminal (Mac) or PowerShell (Windows), you’re ready.

the 6 commands you need

to get comfortable moving around, you only need 6 commands. most of them work the same on Mac and Windows PowerShell.

what you want to do	Mac	Windows (PowerShell)	what it means
where am i?	pwd	pwd	print working directory
show what’s here	ls	dir	list directory contents
go into a folder	cd Desktop	cd Desktop	change directory
go up one level	cd ..	cd ..	.. means “the folder above”
create a folder	mkdir my-folder	mkdir my-folder	make directory
clear the screen	clear	cls	start fresh

notice that cd, mkdir, and pwd work exactly the same on both. for this lesson, treat ls/dir and clear/cls as the differences. PowerShell also accepts some aliases like ls, but dir is the Windows word beginners will see often.

try it yourself

here’s an interactive terminal — it runs safely in your browser and is close enough to a real one to practice the basics. toggle between Mac and Windows in the top-right corner.

try this sequence:

1. pwd — see where you are
2. ls (Mac) or dir (Windows) — see what’s in the current folder
3. cd Desktop — move into the Desktop folder
4. ls or dir — see the files on the Desktop
5. mkdir my-first-folder — create a new folder
6. cd my-first-folder — go into the folder you just made
7. pwd — confirm where you are now

checkpoint: after step 7, your path should end with Desktop/my-first-folder on Mac or Desktop\my-first-folder on Windows. if it does not, type cd ~ and start the sequence again from home.

understanding file paths

when you type pwd, you get something like /Users/student/Desktop. that’s a file path — the address of where you are on your computer.

think of it this way:

/Users/student/Desktop

/          → the entire computer (the country)
Users/     → where all user accounts live (the city)
student/   → your account (your house)
Desktop/   → a folder inside your account (a room)

path map

Read a path like an address

$ pwd /Users/student/Desktop

1. 1 / root the whole computer
2. 2 Users all accounts where user folders live
3. 3 student your account your home folder
4. 4 Desktop current room where the terminal is standing

every / (or \ on Windows) means “go one level deeper.”

three ways to point to a file

1. full address (absolute path)

/Users/student/Documents/report.pdf

works from anywhere — it’s the complete address from the root.

2. from where i’m standing (relative path)

./report.pdf
report.pdf

both mean “the file called report.pdf in the folder i’m currently in.”

3. go back first, then forward

../Documents/report.pdf

means “go up one level (..), then into Documents, then find report.pdf.”

the ~ shortcut

on Mac and in PowerShell, ~ means “my home folder.” so ~/Desktop is a shortcut for /Users/yourname/Desktop (Mac) or C:\Users\yourname\Desktop (Windows). try typing cd ~ in the terminal above to jump home.

common mistakes

match the real capitalization. the simulator, Linux, and some macOS setups treat Desktop and desktop as different. Windows and many default Mac setups are more forgiving, but using the real case is the safest habit.

spaces in folder names need quoting. if a folder is called “My Documents”, you’d type cd "My Documents" — or better yet, avoid spaces in folder names.

you might be in the wrong folder. if a command says “file not found,” you’re probably not where you think you are. type pwd to check.

try reading files

the terminal above also supports reading files. try:

• cd ~/Desktop then cat notes.txt (Mac) or type notes.txt (Windows) — read a text file
• cd ~/Documents — jump straight to Documents using the ~ shortcut
• cat resume.docx (Mac) or type resume.docx (Windows) — see what happens with non-text files

official reference

if you’re on Windows and want the real command reference behind this lesson’s PowerShell examples, start here:

• PowerShell documentation

what’s next?

that’s enough to start using the terminal without feeling lost. these 6 commands cover the basic movement you’ll do over and over.

from here, the next useful step is changing files without panicking.

next up: terminal 102 — files without fear. that’s where you learn touch, cp, mv, rm, hidden files, quoted paths, and the one safety habit that matters most before you start editing real project folders.

/Users/student/Desktop

/          → คอมพิวเตอร์ทั้งเครื่อง (ประเทศ)
Users/     → ที่เก็บบัญชีผู้ใช้ทั้งหมด (จังหวัด)
student/   → บัญชีของคุณ (บ้าน)
Desktop/   → โฟลเดอร์ในบ้านคุณ (ห้อง)

/Users/student/Documents/report.pdf

./report.pdf
report.pdf

../Documents/report.pdf