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Determine whether a directory exists in Bash

Determine whether a directory exists in Bash

David Y.

—

The Problem

How can I determine whether a directory exists in Bash?

The Solution

We can check whether a directory exists using the test command-line utility, as below:

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if test -d /path/to/directory; then
  echo "Directory exists."
fi

Because the test command is used frequently in Bash expressions, we can write it as [] rather than typing out test:

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if [ -d /path/to/directory ]; then
  echo "Directory exists."
fi

The -d flag tests whether the provided name exists and is a directory. To test for regular files instead, we can use the -f flag. To test for both files and directories, we can use the -e flag.

More information about test can be found on its manual page, accessible by typing man test into the terminal.

Further Reading

If you’re looking to get a deeper understanding of how Bash application monitoring works, take a look at the following articles:

  • Syntax.fmListen to the Syntax Podcast
  • ResourcesWhat is Distributed Tracing
  • Syntax.fm logo
    Listen to the Syntax Podcast

    Tasty treats for web developers brought to you by Sentry. Get tips and tricks from Wes Bos and Scott Tolinski.

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