Why can't I access the bin directory?

Question

Why can't I access the bin directory with the following command?

ls / this shows me the hidden bin folder

cd bin I get this error 'No such file or directory'

Answer 1

When you do cd bin you look for a bin directory in the current working directory (which apparently doesn't exist).

To access the root bin directory, /bin you need to do

cd /bin

with the leading /.

Answer 2

To further explain:

List the current directory's contents (either one):

ls .
ls

List the root directory's contents (wherever you are):

ls /

List the home directory's contents (wherever you are):

ls ~

So your first command listed the contents of a directory that was (likely) not the one you were in. If you are wondering about your current directory, try

pwd

The prompt that you see does not always show the full path, since that would take up the entire screen. You can modify this, but it's not desired.