The Mac Terminal is a powerful tool that allows you to interact with your Mac's operating system using a text-based interface. It can be used to perform a wide variety of tasks, from managing files and directories to running scripts and applications.

If you're a Mac user, it's a good idea to learn at least some basic Terminal commands. This will give you more power and control over your computer, and it can also help you to troubleshoot problems and perform common tasks more efficiently.

Here are 20 Mac Terminal commands that every user should know:

1. cd (change directory)

   This command is used to navigate between directories. To use it, simply type cd followed by the path to the directory you want to go to. For example, to go to your home directory, you would type cd ~.

2. ls (list files)

   This command is used to list the contents of the current directory. To use it, simply type ls. You can also add options to the ls command to customize the output. For example, to list all of the files in the current directory in long format, you would type ls -l.

3. mkdir (make directory)

   This command is used to create a new directory. To use it, simply type mkdir followed by the name of the directory you want to create. For example, to create a new directory called my_directory, you would type mkdir my_directory.

4. rmdir (remove directory)

   This command is used to remove a directory. To use it, simply type rmdir followed by the path to the directory you want to remove. For example, to remove the directory my_directory, you would type rmdir my_directory.

5. cp (copy file)

   This command is used to copy a file from one location to another. To use it, simply type cp followed by the path to the file you want to copy and the path to the location you want to copy it to. For example, to copy the file my_file.txt from your desktop to the directory my_directory, you would type cp ~/Desktop/my_file.txt my_directory.

6. mv (move file)

   This command is used to move a file from one location to another. To use it, simply type mv followed by the path to the file you want to move and the path to the location you want to move it to. For example, to move the file my_file.txt from the directory my_directory to your desktop, you would type mv my_directory/my_file.txt ~/Desktop.

7. rm (remove file)

   This command is used to remove a file. To use it, simply type rm followed by the path to the file you want to remove. For example, to remove the file my_file.txt from your desktop, you would type rm ~/Desktop/my_file.txt.

8. touch (create file)

   This command is used to create a new file. To use it, simply type touch followed by the path to the file you want to create. For example, to create a new file called my_file.txt on your desktop, you would type touch ~/Desktop/my_file.txt.

9. nano (text editor)

   This command is used to open a text editor. To use it, simply type nano followed by the path to the file you want to edit. For example, to open the file my_file.txt in the nano text editor, you would type nano ~/Desktop/my_file.txt.

10. vim (text editor)

    This command is used to open the vim text editor. Vim is a powerful text editor that is popular among developers and system administrators. To use vim, simply type vim followed by the path to the file you want to edit. For example, to open the file my_file.txt in the vim text editor, you would type vim ~/Desktop/my_file.txt.

11. grep (search for text in files)

    This command is used to search for text in files. To use it, simply type grep followed by the text you want to search for and the path to the file(s) you want to search. For example, to search for the word "hello" in all of the files in the current directory, you would type grep -i hello *.

12. find (find files and directories)

    This command is used to find files and directories on your Mac. To use the find command, simply type find followed by the options and criteria that you want to use to search for files and directories. For example, to find all of the files with the .txt extension in the current directory and its subdirectories, like find . -name *.txt.

13. ps (list running processes)

    This command is used to list all of the running processes on your Mac. To use it, simply type ps. You can also add options to the ps command to customize the output. For example, to list all of the running processes with their PID and CPU usage, you would type ps aux.

14. top (monitor system performance)

    This command is used to monitor the performance of your Mac's system resources, such as CPU, memory, and disk I/O. To use it, simply type top. You can also add options to the top command to customize the output.

15. kill (terminate a process)

    This command is used to terminate a running process. To use it, simply type kill followed by the PID of the process you want to terminate. For example, to terminate the process with the PID 1234, you would type kill 1234.

16. sudo (run a command with superuser privileges)

    This command is used to run a command with superuser privileges. This is necessary for some operations, such as installing software or modifying system files. To use sudo, simply type sudo followed by the command you want to run. For example, to install the software package my_package, you would type sudo apt install my_package.

17. man (display the manual page for a command)

    This command is used to display the manual page for a command. The manual page contains information about the command's syntax, options, and usage. To use the man command, simply type man followed by the name of the command you want to learn more about. For example, to display the manual page for the ls command, you would type man ls.

18. which (find the location of a command)

    This command is used to find the location of a command on your Mac. This can be useful if you want to know where a command is installed or if you want to create a custom alias for a command. To use the which command, simply type which followed by the name of the command you want to find the location of. For example, to find the location of the ls command, you would type which ls.

19. alias (create an alias for a command)

    This command is used to create an alias for a command. This allows you to run a command with a different name. To create an alias, simply type alias followed by the name of the alias and the command you want to alias. For example, to create an alias called my_alias for the command ls -l, you would type alias my_alias='ls -l'.

20. exit (exit the Terminal)

    This command is used to exit the Terminal. To use it, simply type exit.

Conclusion

Terminal commands can be a powerful tool for Mac users. By learning some basic Terminal commands, you can troubleshoot problems, automate tasks, and customize your Mac in a variety of ways.

If you're serious about using your Mac to its full potential, I encourage you to learn more about Terminal commands. There are many resources available online and in libraries that can help you get started.

And that's it for today 🫡. See you soon in the next article. Until then, keep developing solutions and solving problems.