`mkdir` Make directories

Creates one or more new folders. You reach for it when you set up a project, a backup location or any place to put files. It will not overwrite or change anything that already exists.

Synopsis

mkdir [-pv] [-m MODE] DIRECTORY...

Common options

Option or form	What it does
`-p`	Create any missing parent folders as well. It also stops complaining if the folder already exists
`-v`	Verbose: print each folder as it is created
`-m MODE`	Set the permissions of the new folder, for example -m 700 for owner-only access

Examples

Create one folder

mkdir backup

Create several folders at once

mkdir reports archive drafts

Create a whole path in one go

mkdir -p build/out/logs

Run safely if the folder may already exist

mkdir -p docs

Create a private folder only you can open

mkdir -m 700 private

Create a folder structure with brace expansion

mkdir -p project/{src,tests,docs}

Notes

Without -p, mkdir fails if the parent folder does not exist, and fails if the folder already exists. With -p, both cases are fine, which makes it good for scripts that can run more than once.
Brace expansion such as {src,tests} is done by the shell, not by mkdir. It works in bash and zsh, but it is not guaranteed in plain sh, and a shell without it creates one folder literally named {src,tests}.
Names with spaces need quotes, for example mkdir "My Folder". Without quotes you get two folders.
New folders get permissions of 777 reduced by your umask, so they are usually 755. With -m, the mode is applied to the final folder only. With -p the parent folders it creates get the default permissions.
The -v option is not part of the POSIX standard, so avoid it in scripts that must run on every system. GNU mkdir has it too.

mkdir Make directories

Synopsis

Common options

Examples

Notes

See also

`mkdir` Make directories