Linux pwd Command: Print the Current Working Directory

pwd is a command that prints the path of the current working directory (Current Working Directory). It is used to check which directory you are in within the terminal or to verify the reference location for relative paths in shell scripts.

Generally, running it without options is sufficient, but when the path includes symbolic links, it is important to understand the difference between -L, which shows the logical path, and -P, which shows the actual filesystem path.

What is the pwd command?

pwd stands for print working directory. It prints the absolute path of the directory that the current shell or process is using as its working reference.

pwd

For example, if your current location is the user's project directory, it might output as follows.

/home/user/projects/web-app

The current working directory is the reference for interpreting relative paths. The same relative path, config/settings.ini, points to different files depending on which directory the command is executed from.

Basic Syntax and Usage

pwd [options]

Since it is not a command that takes other paths as arguments, it is usually run alone as follows.

pwd
cd /var/log
pwd

The second pwd will output /var/log if the move was successful. If cd fails, the current working directory does not change.

Difference between -L and -P

If the path to the current location contains symbolic links, the logical path and physical path may differ.

Checking logical path with -L

Assume that /srv/current is a symbolic link that points to the actual deployment directory.

cd /srv/current
pwd -L

If the shell properly manages the logical location, the link path entered by the user can be preserved as follows.

/srv/current

Checking the actual path with -P

pwd -P

If /srv/current points to /srv/releases/2026-09, the physical path can be output as follows.

/srv/releases/2026-09

The -P option is useful when you want to check which directory the deployment link actually points to, or when you need a path that does not rely on the symbolic link name.

Shell built-in pwd and external pwd

Many shells, including Bash, provide pwd as a built-in command. The system may also have the external executable from GNU Coreutils installed.

type -a pwd
command -V pwd

Depending on the environment, both the shell built-in command and the external executable may be displayed as follows.

pwd is a shell builtin
pwd is /usr/bin/pwd

Reasons to use the shell built-in command

The shell directly manages its working directory and logical path when moving directories with cd. Therefore, the built-in pwd can output that information without starting a separate process.

-L and -P can generally be used with both built-in and external commands, but the detailed options may vary depending on the shell and operating system.

Explicitly executing external commands

To check the behavior of GNU Coreutils executables, you can specify the full path. The actual location may vary depending on the distribution.

/usr/bin/pwd
/usr/bin/pwd -P

For scripts that require portability, it is better not to assume that a specific absolute path exists on all systems.

PWD and OLDPWD environment variables

The shell can manage the current location and the previous location as variables. The variable names are in uppercase, so they should be distinguished from the pwd command.

printf '%s\n' "$PWD"
printf '%s\n' "$OLDPWD"
pwd -L
pwd -P

PWD is a shell variable, so if the user changes it arbitrarily or it becomes abnormal, it may not match the actual location. If the actual file system path is important, check it with pwd -P.

Using in shell scripts

Checking execution location

If the script is assumed to run in a specific directory, you can check the location before doing the work.

current_dir=$(pwd -P) || exit 1
printf 'Current working directory: %s\n' "$current_dir"

When using the result of command substitution, enclose the variable in double quotes to keep paths with spaces as a single word.

Distinguishing from script file location

What pwd outputs is not the directory where the script is stored, but the current working directory of the process that ran the script.

cd /tmp
/opt/tools/backup.sh

In this case, pwd executed inside backup.sh usually outputs /tmp. If you need the script's own location, you need to separately consider the shell type, symbolic link handling, and the way the script is called.

Comparison of pwd and related commands

Common issues

Deleted or inaccessible current directory

If the current location or a parent directory is deleted or access permissions are changed by another process, pwd may not be able to determine the path and may produce an error. Move to an accessible parent directory and check again.

The path and output are different from what was expected

If you navigated through a symbolic link, the results of pwd -L and pwd -P may differ. It does not mean that either path is wrong; it shows two different perspectives: the logical name and the physical location.

The path changes in scripts

Cron, systemd, CI jobs, and containers can start programs in a working directory different from an interactive terminal. Before using relative paths, record the execution environment with pwd or use a clear absolute path and set the working directory.

FAQ

What does pwd stand for?

It stands for print working directory and prints the path of the current working directory.

Is pwd the same as echo "$PWD"?

In a normal shell state, similar logical paths may appear, but they do not behave the same. PWD is a shell variable, while pwd is a command that prints the current location, and pwd -P can get the physical path by resolving symbolic links.

Which should I use, pwd -L or pwd -P?

Use -L if you want to retain the path name that the user navigated, and use -P if you need the actual file system path with symbolic links resolved.

Does pwd output the location where the script is stored?

No. It outputs the current working directory of the process executing the script. The location of the script file and the current working directory may be different.

Related articles and official documentation

• Linux / Commands / cd - Changing Directory
• List of Frequently Used Commands in Linux
• GNU Coreutils official pwd documentation
• POSIX pwd specification