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Use mkdir -p path/to/new/directory to create a directory and any missing parent directories in one command. With GNU Coreutils, the command also accepts an existing directory without treating it as an error.
How to create a directory path with mkdir -p
For example, this command creates project, logs, and 2026 as needed:
mkdir -p project/logs/2026The path is relative to your current working directory. To request a location from the filesystem root, begin with a slash, such as /var/tmp/my-app/logs. GNU Coreutils 9.11 documents -p as creating missing parent directories and accepting an existing requested directory. See the GNU Coreutils mkdir invocation reference.
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With GNU mkdir -p, existing directories in the path are left in place; their permission bits are not changed. This makes the command useful in repeatable setup scripts, where a directory may already have been created by an earlier run.
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Without -p, GNU mkdir reports an error if the requested directory name already exists. The option does not make an existing regular file usable as a directory: if a file occupies a required path component, creation cannot proceed through it.
How permissions work for directories created by -p
Do not assume every new directory will have a fixed mode such as 755. For GNU Coreutils, the permissions of newly created directories are affected by the process’s umask. If parent-directory permissions need to be controlled, GNU recommends setting the umask before running mkdir. For example, this subshell applies a mask for this command without changing the calling shell’s umask:
(umask u=rwx,go=rx; mkdir -p P/Q)The -m option does not set the permission bits of intermediate parent directories that -p creates; GNU documents it as applying to directory names given directly on the command line. Avoid relying on -m to control every newly created component of a nested path.
How to see what was created and check for errors
Add -v to print a message for each directory GNU mkdir creates:
mkdir -pv project/logs/2026GNU documents an exit status of zero for success and nonzero for failure, so scripts can check whether the command succeeded rather than assuming that a requested path was created.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.When mkdir -p is not enough
- A path component is a regular file: the command cannot use that file as a parent directory. Choose a different path or resolve the conflicting file deliberately.
- You lack permission to create a directory:
-pdoes not grant write permission or bypass protections on the relevant parent directories. - You need specific permissions on new directories: account for the active
umask; for nested paths, remember that GNU-mdoes not set the modes of intermediate parents created by-p.
These behaviors are documented for GNU Coreutils 9.11. Linux systems may provide different mkdir implementations or versions, so check the local manual if exact implementation-specific behavior matters.
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