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I think my observation linux to navigate to the previous directory (or back) command is cd- but it is not working code cd-

ChanganAuto
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  • Do not add the dash. That is a completely invalid command, just by adding the dash makes the command invalid. To go back, simply type cd and press enter (again. no dash) – Logan Apr 28 '21 at 15:23
  • I don't really know if that was an accident or not when you put the dash, but it was done twice, so I can't tell. – Logan Apr 28 '21 at 15:23

1 Answers1

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You need a space before the -, so that it is passed as an argument to the cd command:

From man bash:

An argument of - is converted to $OLDPWD before the directory change is attempted.

This is different from cd .. which changes to the parent directory, rather than to $OLDPWD. You may of course define aliases for either or both if you wish, ex. alias cd-='cd -' and alias cd..='cd ..' but they are not defined as such by default.

See also:

You might also want to take a look at the bash shell's pushd and popd commands, which allow more complete access to the directory stack.

steeldriver
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