5 MORE Linux Commands Every Beginner Should Know

If you’re new to Linux, diving into the terminal can feel intimidating at first—but it doesn’t have to be! In this video, I’m going to show you 5 MORE essential Linux commands every beginner needs to know. These are simple yet powerful commands you’ll use a lot. Mastering these commands will quickly boost your confidence and open the door to all the amazing things Linux has to offer.

00:00 Intro
00:56 Command 1: grep
04:55 Command 2: mv
06:33 Command 3: mkdir
07:47 Command 4: touch
09:15 Command 5: history
12:16 Outro

5 MORE Linux Commands for the Essential Starter Pack:

1. grep (Search text within files)

  • Example Usage: grep "Linux" notes.txt # finds and prints all lines containing the word "Linux" in notes.txt grep "error" *.log # searches all .log files in the current directory for "error" grep -i "ubuntu" system_info.txt # searches for "ubuntu" regardless of case (Ubuntu, UBUNTU, ubuntu) grep -r "function_name" ./scripts/ # finds occurrences of "function_name" in all files within ./scripts/

2. mv (Move or rename files/directories)

  • Example Usage: mv oldname.txt newname.txt # renames oldname.txt to newname.txt mv report.pdf ~/Documents/reports/ # moves report.pdf into the reports folder mv *.png ~/Pictures/screenshots/ # moves all .png files into the screenshots folder

** 3. mkdir (Create directories)**

  • Example Usage: mkdir Projects # creates a directory named "Projects" mkdir -p Documents/2025/Taxes # creates Documents directory, containing 2025, then Taxes inside that mkdir Videos Photos Music # creates three separate directories: Videos, Photos, and Music

4. touch (Create empty files or update timestamps)

  • Example Usage: touch notes.txt # creates an empty file named notes.txt touch file1.txt file2.txt file3.txt # creates three empty files quickly touch existingfile.txt # updates timestamp to the current date/time, useful for triggering processes dependent on file changes

5. history (View command history)

  • Example Usage: history # displays a list of previously executed commands with numbers history | grep "apt" # lists all past commands containing "apt" (e.g., package management commands) !123 # re-executes command number 123 from your history history -c # clears the current session's command history

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