Mac computers have a couple of simple commands that can help you build up your confidence when working. The command-line environment is there to make your work easier and faster. Below are some of the important commands you can use.
Use Mac Terminal For Commands
Your Mac computer comes with an app called Terminal. It can be found under Applications, then select Utilities. This is how you can execute commands on your computer using the command line.
Launch Terminal by clicking it in the Utilities folder or by looking for it via Spotlight. You can then familiarize yourself with the interface, according to HowtoGeek.
Several of the shortcuts that you use in other apps will be seen here. You can open several tabs with Command+T or a new Terminal window with Command+N.
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The cut, copy, and paste commands will work as expected, and you can also drag any file or folder into the Terminal window to immediately skip to that directory.
You can familiarize yourself with the basic Mac terminal commands, and you can even use it if you use Linux as they have similar command lines as well.
Once you are done, you might want to learn how to lock your Mac computer from the Terminal, or even how ton shut it down with a simple command, according to Medium.
Use Mac Flags to Modify the Commands
Most commands can be appended using a flag in the form of a hyphen and a letter to access several functions, according to MakeUseOf.
For example, the-R flag allows you to open the directory on your computer and see all the files and folders within that directory. It will also allow you to see all the files and folders inside those folders.
The flag can always be seen after the command. For example, rm-i . The rm is the delete command, while the -i flag instructs the computer to ask for user confirmation, and the would be replaced with the file or folder's location on the computer's drive. Remember that the flags are case-sensitive.
Learn How to Use Change Directory: cd
The example of the change directory or cd is cd/folder/. Use the cd command to change the directories. For example: cd/Volumes/Elements/ to access an external drive called Elements.
You can also use the shortcuts to skip to certain directories. For example, running cd- will take you to the Home directory for the current user.
You can also use cd/ to get to the root of the drive, cd... so you can move up one directory, or you can use cd../.. to move up two directories.
List Files & Folders: Is
The example usage of this command is: Is /folder/. This command is useful in navigating your drive and it can be used to list the contents of the computer's current directory just by executing the command. You can append it with a location on the drive to specifically target a certain directory.
You can add flags to the Is command so you can get different results. For example, you can use -C to get a multi-column output, -S to sort the results by size, -It to sort the results by date, -la for detailed contents including the hidden files, or -lh to create a list with readable file sizes.
You can also use the same location shortcuts that you would use with the cd command so you can jump around.
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Written by Sophie Webster
