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FreeInstall Claude Code
Where did that file go?
6 min read·Lesson 3 of Install Claude Code
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Where did that file go?
2:01 · spoken companion to this lesson
0:002:01
Your file landed somewhere. This lesson is about where, and how you decide.
The rule behind all of it is short: Claude Code only works in the folder you started it in. It cannot see the rest of your computer. That is a safety feature, and it is also the reason the next few commands matter.
If you are still inside Claude, type /exit and press Enter to get back to your terminal.
Where am I?
One command answers it.
pwd
You should see
Path
----
C:\Users\yourname
pwd is short for "print working directory". The working directory is the folder your terminal is sitting in right now. That is where hello.txt went.
Lists the files and folders in your working directory.
ls
hello.txt is in that list, along with your Documents and Downloads folders.
PowerShell prints a table with columns for date and size. macOS and Linux print a plain list of names. The information is the same; only the layout differs.
You will see extra options for ls written in other tutorials, like ls -la. Those are written for macOS and Linux and will give you an error here. You do not need them.
Choosing where to work
Now the useful part. Make a folder for a project, move into it, and start Claude there.
Makes a new, empty folder in your working directory.
mkdir my-first-project
cd means change directory. It moves your terminal into that folder.
cd my-first-project
Run pwd again. The path now ends with my-first-project. Your terminal has moved.
Now start Claude from here:
claude
Ask it for something:
make a file called notes.md with three bullet points about what I learned today
Approve it, then /exit, then run ls. The new file is in my-first-project, not in your home folder.
You just decided where Claude works. That is the whole skill.
The three commands worth remembering
Command
What it does
pwd
Tells you which folder you are in
ls
Lists what is in that folder
cd foldername
Moves into that folder
cd ..
Moves back up one folder
That is enough to work with for a long time.
If you see 'mkdir' fails because the folder already exists
You already made it. Just run cd my-first-project and carry on.
If you see cd says it cannot find the path
Check your spelling with ls first: the folder name has to match exactly, including capital letters. Folder names with spaces need quotes, like cd "my project".
What you just learned
Claude Code only sees the folder you started it in.
pwd tells you which folder that is.
ls shows you what is in it.
cd moves you somewhere else, and cd .. goes back up.
Making a folder per project is how you keep work separate.
Next: writing prompts that get you what you actually wanted.