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The Terminal is a powerful tool in Mac OS that allows users to interact with the operating system using text-based commands. Whether you’re a beginner or an advanced user, understanding the top 20 Mac OS Terminal commands can greatly enhance your productivity and efficiency. In this guide, we will cover the most frequently used Terminal commands, along with examples of how to use them.

Contents

• Top 20 Terminal Commands on macOS
• Conclusion
• See Also
• Further Reading

Top 20 Terminal Commands on macOS

1. ls – List the contents of a directory
   • Example: ls to list the contents of the current directory or ls ~/Downloads to list the contents of the Downloads folder.
2. cd – Change the current working directory
   • Example: cd ~/Downloads to navigate to the Downloads folder.
3. pwd – Print the current working directory
   • Example: pwd to display the full path of the current directory.
4. mkdir – Make a new directory
   • Example: mkdir my_folder to create a new directory named “my_folder”.
5. rmdir – Remove an empty directory
   • Example: rmdir my_folder to remove the directory named “my_folder”.
6. touch – Create a new file
   • Example: touch my_file.txt to create a new file named “my_file.txt”.
7. cp – Copy a file or directory
   • Example: cp my_file.txt ~/Downloads to copy “my_file.txt” to the Downloads folder.
8. mv – Move a file or directory
   • Example: mv my_file.txt ~/Downloads to move “my_file.txt” to the Downloads folder.
9. rm – Remove a file
   • Example: rm my_file.txt to remove the file named “my_file.txt”.
10. cat – Concatenate and display files
    • Example: cat my_file.txt to display the contents of “my_file.txt”.
11. less – Display the contents of a file one screen at a time
    • Example: less my_file.txt to display the contents of “my_file.txt” one screen at a time.
12. open – Open a file or directory with the default application
    • Example: open my_file.txt to open “my_file.txt” with the default text editor.
13. ps – Display the current process status
    • Example: ps to display a list of all processes running on the system.
14. top – Display real-time process information
    • Example: top to display real-time information about the processes running on the system.
15. kill – Terminate a process
    • Example: kill 12345 to terminate the process with the PID 12345.
16. history – Display the command history
    • Example: history to display a list of all previously executed commands.
17. ping – Test the connectivity to a network host
    • Example: ping google.com to test the connectivity to the host “google.com”.
18. curl – Transfer data from or to a server
    • Example: curl http://google.com to download the HTML of the “google.com” website.
19. whoami – Display the current user
    • Example: whoami to display the username of the current user.
20. clear – Clear the Terminal screen
    • Example: clear to clear the Terminal screen.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the Terminal is a powerful tool in Mac OS that can greatly enhance your productivity and efficiency. Understanding the top 20 Mac OS Terminal commands can help you navigate the file system, manage files and directories, monitor processes, and perform various network tasks. Whether you’re a beginner or an advanced user, mastering these commands is an essential step in becoming a proficient Mac OS user. By regularly using these commands, you can greatly improve your workflow and streamline your daily tasks.

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See Also

1. Set custom DNS servers on macOS
2. Reset Apple Safari to default settings
3. Repair macOS File System Errors with Disk Utility
4. Set up OpenVPN on macOS

Further Reading

1. Execute commands and run tools in Terminal on Mac
2. An A-Z Index of the Apple macOS command line
3. Absolute BEGINNER Guide to the Mac OS Terminal
4. 50 macOS Tips and Tricks Using Terminal