In Unix, how do I create a new directory?

To create a subdirectory in the home directory of your Unix account, use the mkdir command. For example, to create a subdirectory called work, at the Unix prompt from within your home directory, enter: mkdir work The mkdir command requires at least one argument and will take multiple arguments. To create three directories named work, programs, and reports, enter: mkdir work programs reports If you're currently in your home directory and you want to make a new directory in another directory, you don't need to use the cd command first. You may specify a pathname with the mkdir command, for example: mkdir bin/work The mkdir command in conjunction with the  -p  option creates the directories specified in a path. This is very useful when you want to make a directory structure that is several directories deep, and none of the subdirectories exist yet. For example, the following command will create the work, work/programs, work/programs/reports, and work/programs/reports/completed subdirectories: mkdir -p work/programs/reports/completed Without the  -p  option, this command would have returned an error.

For more information on the mkdir command, see the online manual. At the Unix shell prompt, enter: man mkdir

At Indiana University, to get support for personal or departmental Linux or Unix systems, see At IU, how do I get support for Linux or Unix?

Also see:

• In Unix, how do I list the files in a directory?
• In Unix, how do I get a recursive directory listing?
• In Unix, how do I determine my current working directory?
• Introduction to Unix commands