Folders Are Places
In Finder, a folder looks like a container that holds files. You click to open it and see what's inside.
In Terminal, think of folders differently: they're locations you travel to. You're not opening a container — you're moving to a new place.
The "Path" Is the Address
Every folder on your Mac has an address called a path. It looks like this:
/Users/yourname/Documents/Projects
Each slash separates a folder. Reading left to right, you're going deeper:
/Users— the folder containing all user accounts/Users/yourname— your home folder/Users/yourname/Documents— your Documents folder/Users/yourname/Documents/Projects— a Projects folder inside Documents
See What's Here
Once you're in a folder, you can see what's inside:
Type this to list the contents of your current folder:
ls
You'll see a list of files and folders. Folders are often shown in a different color (usually blue).
What does "ls" stand for? "List." It lists the contents of your current location.
Key Takeaway
Folders are locations with addresses (paths). ls shows you what's at your current location.