While our Linux systems are already packaged to be as good as possible, there are many tips and tweaks that will greatly improve your experience. Here is a random list of the best tips you should know about Ubuntu and other Linux distros. You should already be familiar with many of these tricks but it’s not necessary to be rude about it. Instead, feel free to include your own tips in the comments.
Ubuntu tips
Clear some space with autoremove and clean
Open a terminal and type in the following commands:
sudo apt-get autoremove
sudo apt-get clean
The first command will remove all the unused dependencies and the second clears the cached packages.
Use the Super key as a modifier in Keyboard Shortcuts
One thing that sucks with the Win key is that you can’t use it as a modifier like Ctrl, Shift and Alt for keyboard shortcuts. That can be fixed easily without even opening the terminal. Here is a short tutorial.
Enable Gnome’s Control Panel
Just like on Windows, a control panel is available for Gnome. This one can be enabled by right-clicking the menu bar and clicking Edit menus. Under System, check “Control panel”. You will now have a shortcut to your control panel in the System menu. Alternatively, it can be launched from the terminal by typing gnome-control-center.
Terminal tips
Quickly go back to your /Home directory
If you quickly wish to go back to /Home, just type cd alone in the terminal. It’s always better than double-dot-slashing your way back (cd ../ brings you back to the parent directory). Source.
Go back to the previous directory
For those who play with files and constantly switch between two directories, typing cd - will bring you back to the previous folder (the one you were in before using cd). It’s the equivalent of the “back” button in a GUI file browser. Source.
Auto-complete
When you press tab in the terminal, you will be presented with auto-complete suggestions. It’s a quite handy trick when you can’t completely recall a command’s name. Source.

Avoid rewriting the same commands with arrow up
This has to be one of the most useful tips in the terminal and one of the most well known, but it still has its place on this list. When you press arrow up in the terminal, it will bring up the last commands you typed. This even includes the commands you typed in previous terminal sessions. It’s a good trick to save some efforts when you make typos in super long commands.
Repeat an argument with a different command
Using !$ will repeat an argument with a different command, saving you a lot of time when messing with files and directories.
[nicolas@Nick-Ubuntu ~]$ mkdir /this/is/an/argument
[nicolas@Nick-Ubuntu ~]$ cd !$
Repeat the previous command as root
Use sudo !! to repeat a command as root. !! is a keyword to repeat a command.
[nicolas@Nick-Ubuntu ~]$ gedit /your/text/file.txt
[nicolas@Nick-Ubuntu ~]$ sudo !!