Termux Commands

pwd

pwd = print working directory

Show current directory

pwd

ls

ls = list

Show all files and directories

ls [DIR]

ls -l [DIR]

ls -a [DIR]

ls -lh [DIR]

ls -lt [DIR]

ls -ltr [DIR]

ls -lah [DIR]

ls -d */

-l

Show long format

-a

Show all entries （including hidden files）

-h

Human-readable size（KB・MB・GB）

-t

Sort by modification time

-r

Reverse

-lah

Format + All entries + Human-readable

-d */

List directories only

cd

cd = change directory

cd [DIR]

mkdir

mkdir = make directory

Creates a new directory (folder)

mkdir [DIR]/myfolder

mkdir dir1 dir2 dir3

mkdir [DIR]/{dir1,dir2,dir3}

mkdir -p [DIR]/myfolder

mkdir -v myfolder

"my fodler"

If the file name contains spaces, use double quotes

dir1 dir2 dir3

Create multiple directories

-p

Creates directory with missing parents

-v

Show what the command is doing

rmdir

rmdir = remove directory

Removes an empty directory (folder)

rmdir [DIR]/Empty DIR

rmdir -p dir1/dir2/dir3

-p

Deletes dir3 → dir2 → dir1 if empty

tree

pkg install tree

Display the directory structure as a tree

tree [DIR]

tree -L Num [DIR]

tree -a [DIR]

tree -d [DIR]

tree -f [DIR]

tree -h [DIR]

-L Num

-L 2 = display up to 2 levels of directories

-a

Show all entries （including hidden files）

-d

List directories only

-f

Show full path

-h

Human-readable size（KB・MB・GB）

cp

Copy file

cp [DIR]/file [DIR]/

cp file1 file2

cp -i [DIR]/file [DIR]/

cp -n [DIR]/file [DIR]/

cp -r [DIR]/folder [DIR]/

cp -r code/. .

file1 file2

Copy file1.txt to file2.txt (overwrites if exists)

-i

Ask before overwriting

-n

Do not overwrite existing files

-r

Copy a folder including all its contents

cp -r code/. .

Copy all contents of the code folder into the current directory

mv

Move or rename file

mv [DIR]/file [DIR]/

mv file1 file2

mv dir1/ dir2/

mv -i [DIR]/file [DIR]/

mv -n [DIR]/file [DIR]/

file1 file2

• Renames file1 to file2
• Overwrites file2 if it already exists

dir1/ dir2/

• Renames dir1 to dir2
• Overwrites dir2 if it already exists

-i

Ask for confirmation if the target file exists

-n

Do not overwrite an existing file

rm

Delete file

rm [DIR]/file

rm file1 file2

rm *.txt

rm -i [DIR]/file

rm -r [DIR]

rm -f [DIR]/file

file1 file2

Delete multiple files

*.txt

All files ending with .txt

-i

Ask before deleting

-r

Delete folders and their contents

-f

No prompts, no errors for missing files

touch

Create empty file

If the file exists, update the timestamp

touch [DIR]/myfile

touch file1 file2 file3

touch [DIR]/{file1,file2,file3}

"my file"

If the file name contains spaces, use double quotes

file1 file2 file3

Create multiple files

echo

Write to a file

Creates a new file if it does not exist

echo "text" > [DIR]/filename

echo "text" >> [DIR]/filename

echo -n "text" > [DIR]/filename

echo -e "text" > [DIR]/filename

>

overwrite a file

>>

append to a file

-n

Do not add newline at the end

-e

Enable interpretation of backslash escapes (\n, \t, etc.)

cat

Display and concatenate file contents

cat [DIR]/filename

cat file1 file2

cat file1 file2 > newfile

cat >> [DIR]/filename

cat -n [DIR]/filename

cat -b [DIR]/filename

cat -A [DIR]/filename

cat -E [DIR]/filename

cat -T [DIR]/filename

cat -s [DIR]/filename

file1 file2

Display multiple files

file1 file2 > newfile

Merge files and create a new file

>>

• Append to a file
• Type text → Enter → Ctrl+D to finish

-n

Show file with line numbers

-b

Show file with line numbers on non-empty lines

-A

Show all characters, including line ends and tabs

-E

Show $ at the end of each line

-T

Show tabs as ^I

-s

Squeeze multiple blank lines into one

less

View file page by page

less [DIR]/filename

less -N [DIR]/filename

less -S [DIR]/filename

less -i [DIR]/filename

less +Num [DIR]/filename

LESS='-R' less [DIR]/filename

Space

Move to the next page

b

Move to the previous page

↑ / ↓

Scroll one line at a time

g

Go to the beginning of the file

G

Go to the end of the file

/Text

Search for a text string

n

Go to the next search result

q

Quit less

-N

Show line numbers

-S

No line wrap / horizontal scroll

-i

Case-insensitive search（/Text）

+Num

Start at end of file
(+100 = start at line 100)

LESS='-R'

Display raw color codes

head

Show first 10 lines

head [DIR]/filename

head file1 file2

head -n Num [DIR]/filename

file1 file2

Show first 10 lines of each file

-n 5

Show first 5 lines

tail

Show last 10 lines

tail [DIR]/filename

tail file1 file2

tail -n Num [DIR]/filename

tail -f [DIR]/filename

file1 file2

Show Last 10 lines of each file

-n 5

Last 5 lines

-f

Follow new lines in real time

rsync

pkg install rsync

rsync -av --exclude='node_modules' --exclude='dist' ./ ~/storage/shared/Code

-a

Keeps permissions, timestamps, etc

-v

Shows what’s happening

--exclude

Folders to ignore

./

Current directory contents

~/storage/shared/Code

Destination folder

• Copy all contents excluding node_modules and dist

Brace Expansion

Shell feature that generates multiple strings from a pattern using {}

echo file{1,2,3}.txt

file1.txt file2.txt file3.txt

touch file{1..5}.txt

Creates file1.txt to file5.txt at once

Path Shortcut

Way to refer to a long file or directory path with a shorter alias

.

Current directory (stays in the same place)

..

Parent directory (go up one level)

~

Home directory (/data/data/com.termux/files/home)

-

Previous directory (where you were last, used with cd -)

Search

Search packages

pkg search <package>

pkg search python

Lists packages with “python” in the name or description

Install

Install packages

pkg install <package>

pkg install pkg1 pkg2 pkg3

pkg1 pkg2 pkg3

Install multiple packages

Update

Update and upgrade packages

pkg update

pkg upgrade

pkg update && pkg upgrade

update

Refresh package list

upgrade

Upgrade installed packages to newest versions

pkg update && pkg upgrade

Refresh list & upgrade packages

Uninstall

Uninstall packages

pkg uninstall <package>

pkg uninstall pkg1 pkg2 pkg3

pkg1 pkg2 pkg3

Uninstall multiple packages

List Installed

Lists all installed packages

pkg list-installed

Available Package List

List all available packages

pkg list-all

Check Package Details

Display info about an installed package (version, description, dependencies)

pkg show <package>

chmod

Makes a script file executable

Required for .sh scripts and Termux Widget scripts

chmod +x filename

chmod -R +x [DIR]

+x

Adds execute permission

-R

All files and subdirectories

termux-setup-storage

Enable Android storage access

termux-setup-storage

Required to access:

• Downloads
• DCIM
• shared storage
• /sdcard paths

termux-wake-lock

It keeps the CPU awake so your processes don’t get paused or killed when the screen turns off

termux-wake-lock

termux-wake-unlock

termux-wake-lock

Enable wake lock

termux-wake-unlock

Disable wake lock

exit

Exit current session

exit

logout

Ctrl + C

Stop a running command (interrupt)

Ctrl + C

Ctrl + Z

Suspend current process (pause)

Ctrl + Z

command &

Run command in background

npm run dev &

npm run dev &

Runs without blocking the terminal

jobs

Show background jobs

Lists suspended/background tasks

jobs

fg

Foreground (bring back to active)

fg

bg

Background (resume in background)

bg

exec

Reloads the shell

exec bash

&&

command1 && command2

pkg update && pkg upgrade

• Run command2 only if command1 succeeds

;

command1 ; command2

echo "Hello" ; echo "World"

• Run both commands no matter what (success or failure)

||

command1 || command2

mkdir test || echo "Directory already exists"

• Run command2 only if command1 fails