For example, when you first open the terminal, you’ll see a placeholder line like ~ $

This is called a “shell prompt.” It shows up when the Mac terminal is ready to accept a command. Then, simply double-click the Terminal app result. To open Terminal on your Mac, you can click the magnifying glass search icon in the top bar, and type “Terminal.” How to Open Terminal on Mac:Īccessing the terminal app on your Mac is easy. Tip before you dive in: although you might see commands with quotation marks below, you don’t need to use the quotation marks in the terminal. And if you aren’t sure where to start, you can use the cheat sheet below! It contains commands as well as common vocabulary. Once you get the hang of the commands, using the terminal can become second nature. But the good news is that it follows straightforward rules. You might immediately become anxious seeing a reference to the “command line” – or as it’s known on Mac, “terminal.” It’s true that it can feel daunting to use at first.

How to change directory on mac terminal