dirs

Additional Notes

dirs is a shell builtin that displays the directory stack. The directory stack is a list of directories managed by pushd (to add a directory) and popd (to remove a directory). The stack is shown as a space-separated list, with the current directory listed first.

This command is part of the shell's directory navigation features, which also include pushd and popd. It is available in bash, zsh, and most POSIX-compliant shells. The directory stack is useful for quickly switching between frequently accessed directories.

Syntax

dirs [options]

Parameters

• options: Flags that change how dirs behaves.
• target: Optional file, device, interface, user, service, or command target when the command supports one.

Common Options

• -l: Show the full path of each directory (do not use ~ abbreviation for home).
• -p: Print each directory on its own line.
• -v: Print each directory on its own line with its index number.
• -c: Clear the directory stack.

Examples

dirs

Show the current directory stack. Output: ~/projects ~/documents /tmp

pushd /etc
dirs

Navigate to /etc and check the stack.

dirs -v

Show the directory stack with index numbers:

 0  /home/user
 1  /etc
 2  /var/log

dirs -c

Clear the directory stack.

Practical Notes

• dirs is most useful when using pushd and popd heavily in scripts or interactive sessions.
• The first entry (index 0) is always the current directory.
• pushd without arguments swaps the top two directories and navigates to the new top.
• The directory stack is per-shell; it is not shared across sessions.
• Use dirs -v plus pushd +N to jump to any directory in the stack by index.