Terminal Cheat Sheet: 8 Commands Every Beginner Needs

Remember Lesson 1, when the terminal felt like a maze and every command looked scary? Look how far you’ve come. You now know eight commands — enough to move around freely and manage your own files without guessing.

This article is your terminal cheat sheet: one quick place to glance at whenever you forget which command does what. No memorising. Just know where to look.

This terminal cheat sheet covers eight commands — pwd, ls, cd, mkdir, touch, rm, cp and mv — which together let you find your location, see what’s around, move between folders, and create, delete, copy or rename files. Master these eight and the terminal stops being scary for good.

What is a terminal cheat sheet?

A terminal cheat sheet is a short, plain-language list of the most useful commands, kept handy so you don’t have to remember everything at once. Think of it like a small guide you keep in your back pocket. One glance, and you remember exactly which command to use.

Each command we learned was small on its own. But together, they form a toolkit you carry everywhere from now on.

What are the 8 terminal commands?

Here is the whole set, with one line each. Try saying out loud what each one does before you read the answer.

• pwd — tells you where you are (your current folder).
• ls — shows you what’s here (the files and folders).
• cd — moves you between folders.
• mkdir — makes a new folder.
• touch — makes a brand new, empty file.
• rm — deletes things you don’t need.
• cp — copies a file.
• mv — moves a file, or renames it.

That is the full Level 2 toolkit. Eight small words, and you can now do most everyday file work from the keyboard.

Why does this terminal cheat sheet matter?

Because these eight commands cover most daily file work. Whether you’re tidying up a project, setting up a new folder for your code, or cleaning out files you no longer need, you reach for the same small set every time.

This is exactly the foundation that lets you later command AI tools like Claude Code with confidence. When you understand where your files live and how to move them, the rest of the journey feels far less scary. That’s the whole idea behind the free Zero to AI Hero course — start with the basics, then build up to real apps and AI agents.

How do I quickly test myself?

Here’s a 30-second check you can do right now. Open a terminal and type:

ls

Read every line it shows you. Each line is a file or folder in your current location. You understand all of it now — that’s the win. If you want to confirm where “here” actually is, follow it with:

pwd

It prints the full path to your current folder. Two commands, and you already know both your location and your surroundings.

Tips to make these commands stick

You don’t need to cram. A few small habits help the eight commands feel natural:

• Use them daily. Even a minute of cd and ls each day beats an hour of reading.
• Pair the opposites. mkdir makes a folder, rm removes things; cp copies, mv moves. Learning them in pairs makes them easier to recall.
• Keep this page bookmarked. A cheat sheet only works if you can find it. Glance, use, move on.

Key takeaways

• A terminal cheat sheet is your quick-glance list of the most useful commands — no memorising required.
• The eight Level 2 commands are pwd, ls, cd, mkdir, touch, rm, cp and mv.
• Together they let you find your location, see what’s around, move between folders, and create, delete, copy or rename files.
• Practise a little each day and pair opposite commands to remember them faster.

So that’s your Level 2 cheat-sheet, locked in. Next up, we go one level deeper and start looking inside files with cat. You’re not guessing anymore — you’re building.

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