How to Open Terminal on Mac: 5 Quick Ways
Nemo · · 4 min read
The simplest way to open Terminal on a Mac is Spotlight: press Cmd+Space, type “term” and press Return. Terminal lives in Applications › Utilities, so you can also open it from Finder with Shift+Cmd+U or from the Dock once you keep it there. To open it in a specific folder, turn on the “New Terminal at Folder” service and right-click the folder.
Why is Terminal hard to find?
Apple tucks it into the Utilities folder, inside Applications, next to tools you may never open. Guides then say “open Terminal” as if it were obvious, and you spend the first minutes of a fix hunting for the app. Once you know two of the ways below, it takes a second, and you can keep your attention on the fix instead of the search.
What are the ways to open Terminal?
| Way | Steps | Opens in |
|---|---|---|
| Spotlight | Cmd+Space, type “terminal”, Return | Your home folder |
| Finder | Shift+Cmd+U, double-click Terminal | Your home folder |
| Dock | Right-click its icon › Options › Keep in Dock | Your home folder |
| Folder right-click | Services › New Terminal at Folder | That folder |
| Drag a folder | Drop a folder on Terminal’s Dock icon | That folder |
How do you open Terminal in a specific folder?
Turn on the service once:
- Open System Settings › Keyboard › Keyboard Shortcuts.
- Choose Services, then Files and Folders.
- Tick “New Terminal at Folder” (and “New Terminal Tab at Folder” if you like).
Now right-click any folder in Finder, open Services and choose New Terminal at Folder. If you already have Terminal open, type cd , with a space, and drag the folder from Finder into the window: the path fills in. Press Return.
Can you open Terminal with a keyboard shortcut?
Spotlight is the usual shortcut: Cmd+Space, a few letters, Return. For a dedicated key, the same Keyboard Shortcuts › Services pane lets you give “New Terminal at Folder” a shortcut of your own. It works when a folder is selected in Finder.
What do you do once it’s open?
Start with where you are and what’s there: pwd prints the folder, ls lists it, cd moves. The Mac Terminal commands guide has the short list worth knowing, and Ctrl+C stops anything you started by mistake. The Up arrow brings back the last command so you don’t retype it.
Once you use it daily, you’ll want more than one shell in view. Terminal has tabs and windows; tmux gives you real panes and sessions that survive closing the window. The tmux cheat sheet covers its keys.
Which shell does Terminal open?
zsh, on any Mac set up since macOS Catalina; older accounts may still use bash. Type echo $SHELL to see yours. Your settings live in ~/.zshrc, a hidden file in your home folder; the guide to hidden files shows how to see it in Finder. To switch shells, run chsh -s /bin/bash (or back with /bin/zsh) and open a new window.
Can you open a terminal inside your browser?
In Monok, yes. It is a Mac browser with a native terminal in its panes:
- Ctrl+` splits a terminal under the page, running your own login shell with your rc files and tools. Press it again to go back to the page.
- In an empty pane, type
>and a command in the Magic Bar, like>npm run dev; it runs only when you press Return. - File › Open Folder in Terminal (Shift+Cmd+O) starts a terminal pane in the folder you pick.
- Cmd+click a localhost link in the output and it opens in a tab.
No web page, browser:// page or JavaScript can open that terminal, read it or type into it. It splits like any other pane, which the Mac split screen guide puts next to the macOS options. A Files pane (type /) splits the same way. The home page has the tour.
Try it: download Monok for Mac, free while in preview, macOS 14 or later.
FAQ
Where is Terminal on a Mac?
In Applications › Utilities. Shift+Cmd+U opens that folder in Finder.
What is the shortcut to open Terminal?
Cmd+Space, type “terminal”, Return. macOS has no default single key for it, but you can assign one to the New Terminal at Folder service.
How do I open Terminal as an administrator?
You don’t need to. Put sudo in front of a command that needs administrator rights and type your password.
Can I use Monok for everyday shell work?
Yes: its terminal pane runs your own login shell next to the page. Get it on the download page.