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Linux Filesystem

Last updated 2026-08-20 · 4 notes · 3 tags

Tags: filesystem linux paths

A quick map of where things live and how to check disk space or find a file.

Home folder

Your personal files live under your home directory. The shortcut is:

~

Example: ~/projects/your-project is a project inside your home folder.

Note: On WSL, Windows files appear under /mnt/c/.... Prefer ~/projects for coding work when you can.

Current folder

pwd

How big is this folder?

du -sh .

Note: The . means “the folder I am in right now.”

Free disk space

df -h

Find a file by name

From the current folder downward:

find . -name "*.py"

Find a folder by name

find . -type d -name "node_modules"

Note: find can take a while on huge drives. Start from a project folder, not from /, unless you mean to search the whole system.

Common places

Path What it is
~ or /home/YOUR_USERNAME Your home
~/projects Suggested place for repos
/tmp Temporary files (can be cleared on reboot)
/mnt/c/... Windows C: drive (WSL only)

Note: Replace YOUR_USERNAME with the Linux username you created at install time.

Common mistakes

  • Deleting from the terminal does not use the Windows Recycle Bin unless you set up trash-cli.
  • When sharing a path with someone (or an AI), paste the full output of pwd.

This project chronicles ideas, decisions and lessons I have gleaned from building with AI. The goal is to help non-technical users get familiar with these tools and techniques, so that they may be able to use them effectively. At times, I have also made the use of AI tools to augment or refine the content.

Readers are responsible for using any commands or instructions published here with due caution. The creator of this site accepts no responsibility for any system damage, data loss or other consequences, resulting from the application of this content.