PWD(1) User Commands PWD(1)

pwd — return working directory name

/usr/bin/pwd [-L | -P]

The pwd utility writes an absolute path name of the current working directory to standard output.

The Bourne shell, sh(1), the Korn shells, ksh(1) and ksh93(1), and most other shells have a built-in pwd command. If just pwd is used while in shell context and not an absolute path to a command, the shell's built-in version will be executed.

When no options are specified, pwd operates as though -P was specified. Systems vary in the defaults they use here and many historical defaults diverge from POSIX. For portable operation, always specify -L or -P.

pwd supports the following options:

Output a logical path. The PWD environment variable will be used as long as it appears valid. Criteria may include whether this is an absolute or relative path, if there are any path component's that are ‘.’. or ‘..’, and if the actual path refers to the expected file system location.

The -L option overrides any prior instances of the -P option.

Print the physical path, resolves any symlinks encountered. The -P option overrides any prior instances of the -L option.

The logical current working directory which is used when the -L option is specified.

In addition, see environ(7) for descriptions of the following environment variables that affect the execution of pwd: LANG, LC_ALL, LC_MESSAGES, and NLSPATH.

The following exit values are returned:

Successful completion.
An error occurred.

If an error is detected, output will not be written to standard output, a diagnostic message will be written to standard error, and the exit status will not be 0.

“” and “” indicate possible file system trouble and should be referred to a UNIX system administrator.

cd(1), ksh(1), ksh93(1), sh(1), shell_builtins(1), attributes(7), environ(7), standards(7)

If you move the current directory or one above it, pwd may not give the correct response. Use the cd(1) command with a full path name to correct this situation.

March 31, 2026 OmniOS