Command Line

The command line interface is an alternate method of interacting with macOS and Mac OS X, relying on text based command entry to execute commands and perform tasks. It is accessed on the Mac by using the Terminal application. Generally, the command line is considered advanced, and thus it’s usage tends to be more complex than many standard procedures on a Mac.

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Use the Terminal cheat Tool to Generate CheatSheets for Commands

Mar 14, 2024 - Leave a Comment
How to use the cheat command to generate cheatsheets for the command line on Mac

While there are some command line wizards out there who never need to look at references, search manual pages, defer to command lists, LLM queries, or web searches, the rest of us mere mortal commands line users can be helped by a really great tool called cheat. The cheat command is able to provide a … Read More

Setting the Default Web Browser from Command Line on Mac

Mar 8, 2024 - 2 Comments
Mac Terminal icon

Many advanced Mac users spend a lot of time working from the command line with the Terminal application. The command line offers ways to interact with various settings in MacOS through defaults commands and other tricks, so it’s a reasonable question to wonder if you can set or change the default web browser on a … Read More

How to Mount & Copy HFS Classic Mac Drives on MacOS

Feb 27, 2024 - 3 Comments
Copy classic Mac HFS drive data to modern MacOS

Modern versions of MacOS no longer support HFS, meaning that new Macs can no longer read, mount, or write to classic HFS drives. But a fair amount of longtime Mac users continue to have older Macs and old Mac hard drives that are in HFS format, way back from the days of Mac OS 8, … Read More

How to Stop “Upgrade to MacOS Sonoma” Notifications on Macs

Feb 13, 2024 - 9 Comments
Stop the notifications to upgrade to macOS Sonoma

Are you tired of seeing the “Upgrade to macOS Sonoma” notifications on your Mac running Ventura or Monterey? If so, you can hide those notifications and stop the “Upgrade to macOS Sonoma” nagging on your Mac. It’s not unusual for Mac users to continue running older versions of system software, well after a new version … Read More

How to Speed Up Auto-Showing/Hiding Dock on MacOS

Feb 12, 2024 - 17 Comments
The Mac Finder icon

A subtle way that you can tweak MacOS to make it feel a little faster is to speed up the auto-hiding and auto-showing time of the Dock. This obviously only applies to Mac users who hide their Dock by default, and the emphasis needs to be on feel faster because while this is removing a … Read More

How to Convert Images to Webp on Mac from Command Line

Jan 31, 2024 - 3 Comments
Convert image to webp from the command line on Mac

Do you need to convert images to webp format from the Mac? Converting images to WebP offers tremendous file size savings, often compressing an image up to 70% without losing image quality, so it’s understandable why many Mac users and web developers, designers, and workers would wish to convert and compress images into WebP format. … Read More

How to grep Match Two Strings in One Line, or Anywhere in File or Command Output

Nov 27, 2023 - 2 Comments
Mac Terminal icon

The command line grep tool is incredibly powerful and useful for searching for matches in files, sorting text and data, finding strings in large files, and so much more. One common situation many command line users may find themselves in, is seeking to grep match for two different strings in a single line. You can … Read More

How to Verify & Repair Mac Disk from Command Line

Nov 8, 2023 - Leave a Comment
Mac Terminal icon

The Disk Utility application on MacOS has a command line counterpart, that allows Mac users to run disk maintenance and disk administration tasks, including verifying and repairing disks. There are obvious advantages and benefits to using the command line for tasks like this, particularly for troubleshooting scenarios, and remote management, but some advanced users may … Read More

Native MacOS Docker Containers are Now Possible

Oct 13, 2023 - Leave a Comment
Native macOS Containers in Docker are now possible

Have you ever wished you could run native macOS Docker containers on macOS? Well, now you can, thanks to a great free project called macOS Containers. If you’re in the developer world at nearly any level, you likely have experience with Docker containers, which are wildly popular because of their utility. Offering a lightweight and … Read More

5 Ways to Open Terminal on Mac

Aug 2, 2023 - 3 Comments
Terminal in MacOS

The Terminal application on Mac provides a powerful command-line interface that allows users to interact with their computer using text-based commands. It offers advanced control, customization, and automation options, making it beneficial for developers, system administrators, and power users who prefer a more efficient and flexible way to execute tasks, manage files, navigate the file … Read More

Get Slide-Out Terminal Access in MacOS by Keyboard Shortcut with iTerm

Jul 21, 2023 - Leave a Comment
Set a hotkey for instant command line access with iTerm on Mac

The iTerm app for Mac is a great terminal alternative that has some unique features, one of which is that you can setup a hotkey or keyboard shortcut to instantly access an iTerm2 terminal as a slide-out command line from the top of the screen, from anywhere in MacOS.

How to Install Homebrew on MacOS Sonoma Beta

Jul 19, 2023 - 3 Comments
Install Homebrew in MacOS Sonoma

If you use Homebrew with your Mac, you probably want to install Homebrew in MacOS Sonoma as well. While it installs as intended for many Mac users, some are experiencing issues when attempting to install Homebrew in the Sonoma beta. We’ll cover the solution, showing you how to get Homebrew installed successfully in MacOS Sonoma … Read More

How to Get Transparent Terminal Windows in iTerm2

Jul 9, 2023 - Leave a Comment
Transparent terminal in iTerm2

iTerm2 is a popular Terminal application alternative for the Mac, and one fun way to customize the appearance of your terminal windows in iTerm2 is to set the terminal window to be transparent. Here’s how you can get a transparent terminal appearance in iTerm2 on the Mac.

How to Recursively Find All Files in Directories/Subfolders by Wildcards

Jun 30, 2023 - 5 Comments
Mac Terminal icon

Users may come across a situation where they would like to find all files in a directory, folder, or subfolder structure, that match a particular string but with variations to the file names, a situation perfect for finding files based on wildcard matches. For example, maybe you’d like to locate all files on a file … Read More

How to Find Process Locking a Port on Mac

Jun 29, 2023 - 1 Comment
Mac Terminal icon

Mac users may occasionally come across a situation where a process is locking a port, preventing another app or process from using that port. If you come across such a situation, for example maybe you’re trying to use React.js and find out that something is already running on port 3000, you can easily track down … Read More

How to Opt Out / Disable Homebrew Analytics

Jun 25, 2023 - 4 Comments
Homebrew for Mac

Homebrew is a fantastic package manager for the command line on Mac, but something that is perhaps less fantastic for some individuals is that Homebrew defaults to enabling ‘analytics’, which means your Mac will transmit data from your Mac to Homebrew about Homebrew usage. No thanks! The Homebrew analytics include everything from user agent, Google … Read More

How to Install Command Line Tools in MacOS Sonoma Beta

Jun 14, 2023 - 2 Comments
Install Command Line Tools when "Can't install the software because it is not currently available from the Software Update server." error message shows up on Mac

Some MacOS Sonoma beta users have noticed they can not install Command Line Tools specifically in the Sonoma beta from the Terminal, instead they see an error message stating “Can’t install the software because it is not currently available from the Software Update server.” If you are trying to install the Command Line Tools into … Read More

How to Remove DS_Store Files from Git Repository

May 30, 2023 - Leave a Comment
Remove DS_Store files from git

If you use git on the Mac platform, you likely have come across DS_Store files in a git repository. These can be annoying and clutter a git repo, and you may even run into unnecessary conflicts due to .DS_Store files being maintained in git repos, where you may see error messages like “The files .DS_Store … Read More

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