In Google Colab, cd changes the directory only within the current cell. However, Colab resets the working directory when a new cell runs. To make sure the directory change is persistent, try the following:
Method 1: Change Directory and Confirm
import os
os.chdir('/content/drive/MyDrive/my_folder') # Change to desired directory
print("Current working directory:", os.getcwd()) # Verify change
This ensures the new directory is set before running commands.
Method 2: Mount Google Drive (if accessing files from Drive)
from google.colab import drive
drive.mount('/content/drive')
%cd /content/drive/MyDrive/my_folder # Change directory
Make sure your folder exists in Google Drive before running this.
Method 3: Use %cd Magic Command
Google Colab supports the %cd command:
%cd /content/drive/MyDrive/my_folder
This is different from !cd, which only changes the directory temporarily.