🐭 Bye Bye Mouse

Quick Links

copy a file
duplicate a file
copy a directory
duplicate a directory
move a file
rename a file
move a directory
rename a directory
merge directories
create a new file
create a new directory
show file/directory size
show file/directory info
open a file with the default program
open a file in any application
zip a directory
unzip a directory
peek files in a zip file
remove a file
remove a directory
remove all files of certain criteria
list directory contents
tree view a directory and its subdirectories
find a stale file
show a calendar
find a future date
use a calculator
force quit a program
check server response
view content of a file
search for a text in a file
search in all files in current working directory, quickly (entire disk in less than 15 minutes)
view an image
show disk size
check cpu usage, processes and RAM
know whether your computer is under load, and whether it's due to memory or CPU
poweroff or reboot your computer
locate USB drives
unmount USB drives
format USB drives
check USB format
run command on all files of a directory
check network connectivity to a remote address and port
check DNS config of a domain
check the ownership and registration of a domain
Hotkeys
I can't remember these cryptic commands

copy a file

STOP DRAG AND DROPPING A FILE, OR CMD/CTRL + C, CMD/CTRL + V A FILE 👎

Copy readme.txt to the documents directory

$ cp readme.txt documents/

Go to table of contents 🔼

duplicate a file

STOP RIGHT CLICKING AND DUPLICATE A FILE 👎

$ cp readme.txt readme.bak.txt

More advanced:

$ cp readme{,.bak}.txt
# Note: learn how the {} works with touch foo{1,2,3}.txt and see what happens.

Go to table of contents 🔼

copy a directory

STOP DRAG AND DROPPING A DIRECTORY, OR CMD/CTRL + C, CMD/CTRL + V A DIRECTORY 👎

Copy myMusic directory to the myMedia directory

$ cp -a myMusic myMedia/
# or
$ cp -a myMusic/ myMedia/myMusic/

Go to table of contents 🔼

duplicate a directory

STOP RIGHT CLICKING AND DUPLICATE A DIRECTORY 👎

$ cp -a myMusic/ myMedia/
# or if `myMedia` folder doesn't exist
$ cp -a myMusic myMedia/

Go to table of contents 🔼

move a file

STOP DRAG AND DROPPING A FILE, OR CMD/CTRL + X, CMD/CTRL + V A FILE 👎

$ mv readme.txt documents/

Always use a trailing slash when moving files, for this reason.

Go to table of contents 🔼

rename a file

STOP RIGHT CLICKING AND RENAME A FILE 👎

$ mv readme.txt README.md

Go to table of contents 🔼

move a directory

STOP DRAG AND DROPPING A DIRECTORY, OR CMD/CTRL + X, CMD/CTRL + V A DIRECTORY 👎

$ mv myMedia myMusic/
# or
$ mv myMedia/ myMusic/myMedia

Go to table of contents 🔼

rename a directory

STOP RIGHT CLICKING AND RENAME A DIRECTORY 👎

$ mv myMedia/ myMusic/

Go to table of contents 🔼

merge directories

STOP DRAG AND DROPPING TO MERGE DIRECTORIES 👎

$ rsync -a /images/ /images2/	# note: may over-write files with the same name, so be careful!

Go to table of contents 🔼

create a new file

STOP RIGHT CLICKING AND CREATE A NEW FILE 👎

$ touch 'new file'    # updates the file's access and modification timestamp if it already exists
# or
$ > 'new file'        # note: erases the content if it already exists

Go to table of contents 🔼

create a new directory

STOP RIGHT CLICKING AND CREATE A NEW DIRECTORY 👎

$ mkdir 'untitled folder'
# or
$ mkdir -p 'path/may/not/exist/untitled folder'

Go to table of contents 🔼

show file/directory size

STOP RIGHT CLICKING AND SHOW FILE/directory INFO 👎

$ du -sh node_modules/

Go to table of contents 🔼

show file/directory info

STOP RIGHT CLICKING AND SHOW FILE/DIRECTORY INFO 👎

$ stat -x readme.md   # on macOS
$ stat readme.md      # on Linux

Go to table of contents 🔼

open a file with the default program

STOP DOUBLE CLICKING ON A FILE 👎

$ xdg-open file   # on Linux
$ open file       # on MacOS
$ start file      # on Windows

Go to table of contents 🔼

open a file in any application

STOP RIGHT CLICKING AND OPEN WITH 👎

$ open -a appName file

Go to table of contents 🔼

zip a directory

STOP RIGHT CLICKING AND COMPRESS DIRECTORY 👎

$ zip -r archive_name.zip folder_to_compress

Go to table of contents 🔼

unzip a directory

STOP RIGHT CLICKING AND UNCOMPRESS DIRECTORY 👎

$ unzip archive_name.zip

Go to table of contents 🔼

peek files in a zip file

STOP USING WinRAR 👎

$ zipinfo archive_name.zip
# or
$ unzip -l archive_name.zip

Go to table of contents 🔼

remove a file

STOP RIGHT CLICKING AND DELETE A FILE PERMANENTLY 👎

$ rm my_useless_file

IMPORTANT: The rm command deletes my_useless_file permanently, which is equivalent to move my_useless_file to Recycle Bin and hit Empty Recycle Bin.

Go to table of contents 🔼

remove a directory

STOP RIGHT CLICKING AND DELETE A DIRECTORY PERMANENTLY 👎

$ rm -r my_useless_folder

Go to table of contents 🔼

remove all files of certain criteria

$ find . -name "*.bak" -type f -delete

IMPORTANT: run find . -name "*.bak" -type f first to see exactly which files you will remove.

Go to table of contents 🔼

list directory contents

STOP OPENING YOUR FINDER OR FILE EXPLORER 👎

$ ls my_folder        # Simple
$ ls -la my_folder    # -l: show in list format. -a: show all files, including hidden. -la combines those options.
$ ls -ltrha my_folder # -r: reverse output. -t: sort by time (modified). -h: output human-readable sizes.

Go to table of contents 🔼

tree view a directory and its subdirectories

STOP OPENING YOUR FINDER OR FILE EXPLORER 👎

$ tree                                                        # on Linux
$ find . -print | sed -e 's;[^/]*/;|____;g;s;____|; |;g'      # on MacOS
# Note: install homebrew (https://brew.sh) to be able to use (some) Linux utilities such as tree.
# brew install tree

Go to table of contents 🔼

find a stale file

STOP USING YOUR FILE EXPLORER TO FIND A FILE 👎

Find all files modified more than 5 days ago

$ find my_folder -mtime +5

Go to table of contents 🔼

show a calendar

STOP LOOKING UP WHAT THIS MONTH LOOKS LIKE BY CALENDAR WIDGETS 👎

Display a text calendar

$ cal

Display selected month and year calendar

$ cal 11 2018

Go to table of contents 🔼

find a future date

STOP USING WEBAPPS TO CALCULATE FUTURE DATES 👎

What is today's date?

$ date +%m/%d/%Y

What about a week from now?

$ date -d "+7 days"                                           # on Linux
$ date -j -v+7d                                               # on MacOS

Go to table of contents 🔼

use a calculator

STOP USING CALCULATOR WIDGET 👎

$ bc -l

Go to table of contents 🔼

force quit a program

STOP CTRL + ALT + DELETE and choose the program to kill 👎

$ killall -9 program_name

Go to table of contents 🔼

check server response

STOP OPENING A BROWSER 👎

$ curl -i rbtreevi.web.app
# curl's -i (--include) option includes HTTP response headers in its output.

Go to table of contents 🔼

view content of a file

STOP DOUBLE CLICKING A FILE 👎

$ cat apps/settings.py
# if the file is too big to fit on one page, you can use a 'pager' (less) which shows you one page at a time.
$ less apps/settings.py

Go to table of contents 🔼

search for a text in a file

STOP CMD/CTRL + F IN A FILE 👎

$ grep -i "Query" file.txt

Go to table of contents 🔼

search in all files in current working directory, quickly (entire disk in less than 15 minutes)

STOP CMD/CTRL + F IN A DIRECTORY 👎

$ ripgrep -i "Query"
# brew install ripgrep

Go to table of contents 🔼

view an image

STOP USING PREVIEW 👎

$ imgcat image.png
# Note: requires iTerm2 terminal.

Go to table of contents 🔼

show disk size

STOP RIGHT CLICKING DISK ICON OR OPENING DISK UTILITY 👎

$ df -h

Go to table of contents 🔼

check cpu usage, processes and RAM

STOP OPENING YOUR ACTIVITY MONITOR OR TASK MANAGER 👎

$ top

if you want some more details:

$ htop

Go to table of contents 🔼

know whether your computer is under load, and whether it's due to memory or CPU

$ glances
# brew install glances
# pip install --user 'glances[all]'

Go to table of contents 🔼

poweroff or reboot your computer

This can be useful when you're patching a server that is accessed via SSH and you don't have a GUI.

# poweroff
$ sudo shutdown -h now
# reboot
$ sudo shutdown -r now

Go to table of contents 🔼

locate USB drives

$ df

Go to table of contents 🔼

unmount USB drives

$ sudo umount /dev/sdb1

Go to table of contents 🔼

format USB drives

# FAT32
$ sudo mkfs.vfat /dev/sdb1
# NTFS
$ sudo mkfs.ntfs /dev/sdb1
# exFAT
$ sudo mkfs.exfat /dev/sdb1

Go to table of contents 🔼

check USB format

$ sudo fsck /dev/sdb1

Go to table of contents 🔼

run command on all files of a directory

STOP CLICKING THE FILES ONE BY ONE 👎

$ for FILE in *; do echo $FILE; done

Go to table of contents 🔼

check network connectivity to a remote address and port

STOP USING NETWORK UTILITY

$ nc -vz www.google.com 443
$ nc -vz 1.1.1.1 53

Go to table of contents 🔼

check DNS config of a domain

STOP USING NETWORK UTILITY

$ dig www.google.com

Go to table of contents 🔼

check the ownership and registration of a domain

STOP USING NETWORK UTILITY AND THE WEBSITE OF DOMAIN REGISTRATION PROVIDERS

$ whois www.google.com

Go to table of contents 🔼

Hotkeys

Hotkey	Description
`Ctrl`+`A`	Go to the beginning of the line you are currently typing on
`Ctrl`+`E`	Go to the end of the line you are currently typing on
`Ctrl`+`L`	Clears the Screen, similar to the clear command
`Ctrl`+`U`	Clears the line before the cursor position. If you are at the end of the line, clears the entire line.
`Ctrl`+`H`	Same as backspace
`Ctrl`+`R`	Lets you search through previously used commands
`Ctrl`+`C`	Kill whatever you are running
`Ctrl`+`D`	Exit the current shell
`Ctrl`+`Z`	Puts whatever you are running into a suspended background process. fg restores it.
`Ctrl`+`W`	Delete the word before the cursor
`Ctrl`+`K`	Clear the line after the cursor
`Ctrl`+`T`	Swap the last two characters before the cursor
`Ctrl`+`F`	Move cursor forward one character
`Ctrl`+`B`	Move cursor backward one character
`Esc`+`T`	Swap the last two words before the cursor
`Alt`+`T`	Same as `Esc` + `T`
`Alt`+`F`	Move cursor forward one word on the current line
`Alt`+`B`	Move cursor backward one word on the current line
`Esc`+`F`	Same as `Alt` + `F`
`Esc`+`B`	Same as `Alt` + `B`
`Alt`+`.`	Paste the last word of the most recently command
`Tab`	Auto-complete files and directory names

Go to table of contents 🔼

I can't remember these cryptic commands

You can always google or man the commands you are not familiar with. Or, checkout tldr, a collection of simplified and community-driven man pages.

Go to table of contents 🔼