macOS Terminal Commands

List files and folders.

ls -la

Change the current directory.

cd ~/Documents

Copy files or directories.

cp file.txt backup.txt

Move or rename files.

mv old.txt new.txt

Create a directory.

mkdir reports

Print file contents.

cat package.json

Search text from files or command output.

grep -R "TODO" .

Find files by name or condition.

find . -name "*.log"

Change file permissions.

chmod +x script.sh

List active processes.

ps aux

Send a signal to a process.

kill -9 1234

List open files and ports.

lsof -i :3000

Test connectivity to a host.

ping example.com

Make HTTP requests from Terminal.

curl -I https://example.com

Manage packages with Homebrew.

brew install node

Open files, folders, or URLs.

open .

Print the current directory.

pwd

Remove a file.

rm old.log

Create a file or update its timestamp.

touch notes.txt

Show disk usage for files and folders.

du -sh .

Show free disk space.

df -h

Copy files and directories with macOS metadata support.

ditto source destination

Copy terminal output to the macOS clipboard.

cat file.txt | pbcopy

Paste clipboard contents into terminal output.

pbpaste

Show macOS version information.

sw_vers

Display detailed hardware and software information.

system_profiler SPHardwareDataType

Read or write macOS user defaults.

defaults read com.apple.finder

Check and install macOS software updates.

softwareupdate -l

Manage launch agents and daemons.

launchctl list

Show network interface configuration.

ifconfig

Show network status and routes.

netstat -rn

Inspect and configure system network settings.

scutil --dns

Speak text through macOS text-to-speech.

say "Hello NovaKit"