How to change to the previous working directory on the command line on Linux

Type in the command below to go to your previous working directory

cd -

or

cd $OLDPWD

Points to remember

• The “-” is short for previous working directory.
• The previous working directory is defined by the shell variable $OLDPWD.
• Everytime you use the cd command it sets the $OLDPWD environment variable.
• Thus cd $OLDPWD is the same as cd –