PHP allows you to change the current working directory by calling the chdir() function.
The chdir() function accepts a string parameter for the new directory you want to access:
chdir(string $directory): bool
PHP also has the getcwd() function that returns the current working directory. You can use this function to check whether the directory successfully changes or not
Here’s an example:
<?php
// current directory
echo getcwd() . "\n";
// change directory
chdir('Documents');
// current directory
echo getcwd() . "\n";
?>
When you run the example above, the output should be similar as follows:
/home/nsebhastian
/home/nsebhastian/Documents
Please note that chdir() function doesn’t create a new directory.
If the directory you specified doesn’t exist, then the function will produce a warning as shown below:
Warning: chdir(): No such file or directory (errno 2)
in ... on line ...
And that’s how you change directory using PHP.