# Changing directories in Terminal



## sahyun (Nov 7, 2000)

How do you change directories with multi-word names when using the Terminal app? For example if I wanted to change to a directory called "My File",  if I use

cd My%20File

I get a directory does not exist error. The only work-around I've found is to rename the file in the finder to a name that doesn't have a space, hardly a reasonable route.

Thanks,
Steve


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## annette (Nov 7, 2000)

With the default tcsh we've got tab-completion.  What that means is that if you're trying to change into a directory called "My Directory" you can just type

<tt>cd My[TAB]</tt>

and it will fill in the rest.  This assumes that you do not have any other directories that start with "My " in the current directory.

If you do have something else that starts with "My ", or if you are using a shell that does not have any kind of completion, then you would escape the space with the backslash:

<tt>cd My\ Directory</tt>


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## sahyun (Nov 7, 2000)

Annette,

Thanks. I knew it was something simple, but I could't find the info anywhere.

Steve


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## hotani (Nov 7, 2000)

you can also use quotes - cd "my dir"


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