How to move up a directory with Terminal in OS X

Solution 1:

cd .. will back the directory up by one. If you want to reach a folder in the parent directory, you can do something like cd ../foldername. You can use the ".." trick as many times as you want to back up through multiple parent directories. For example, cd ../../Applications would take you to Macintosh HD/Applications

Solution 2:

For Mac Terminal

cd ..   # one up
cd ../  # two up
cd      # home directory 
cd /    # root directory
cd "yaya-13" # use quotes if the file name contains punctuation or spaces

Solution 3:

Typing cd will take you back to your home directory. Whereas typing cd .. will move you up only one directory (the direct parent of the current directory).

Solution 4:

To move up a directory, the quickest way would be to add an alias to ~/.bash_profile

alias ..='cd ..'

and then one would need only to type '..[return]'.