PWD(1)                  FreeBSD General Commands Manual                 PWD(1)

NAME

     pwd - return working directory name

SYNOPSIS

     pwd [-L | -P]

DESCRIPTION

     The pwd utility writes the absolute pathname of the current working
     directory to the standard output.

     Some shells may provide a builtin pwd command which is similar or
     identical to this utility.  Consult the builtin(1) manual page.

     The options are as follows:

     -L      Display the logical current working directory.

     -P      Display the physical current working directory (all symbolic
             links resolved).

     If no options are specified, the -L option is assumed.

ENVIRONMENT

     Environment variables used by pwd:

     PWD  Logical current working directory.

EXIT STATUS

     The pwd utility exits 0 on success, and >0 if an error occurs.

EXAMPLES

     Show current working directory with symbolic links resolved:

           $ /bin/pwd
           /usr/src/sys/kern

     Show the logical current directory.  Then use file(1) to inspect the /sys
     directory:

           $ /bin/pwd -L
           /sys/kern
           $ file /sys
           /sys: symbolic link to usr/src/sys

SEE ALSO

     builtin(1), cd(1), csh(1), realpath(1), sh(1), getcwd(3)

STANDARDS

     The pwd utility conforms to IEEE Std 1003.1-2001 ("POSIX.1").

HISTORY

     The pwd command appeared in Version 5 AT&T UNIX.

BUGS

     In csh(1) the command dirs is always faster because it is built into that
     shell.  However, it can give a different answer in the rare case that the
     current directory or a containing directory was moved after the shell
     descended into it.

     The -L option does not work unless the PWD environment variable is
     exported by the shell.

FreeBSD 15.1-STABLE-HBSD       February 6, 2026                         PWD(1)