If you’ve ever opened Terminal on macOS and immediately thought “what am I even looking at?”—you’re not alone. The Terminal can feel intimidating at first, but you only need a handful of commands to start using it confidently.In this guide, you’ll learn 10 essential macOS Terminal commands you can start using right away—no experience needed.

 

1. pwd — Show Your Current Location

Displays your current folder path.

pwd

2. ls — List Files and Folders

Shows everything in your current directory.

ls

Detailed list (including hidden files):

ls -la

3. cd — Change Directory

Move between folders:

cd Documents
cd ..
cd ~

4. touch — Create a New File

Quickly create a new empty file:

touch notes.txt

👉 Great for testing or starting files quickly

📦 5. mkdir — Create a Folder

Make a new directory:

mkdir Projects

6. rm — Delete Files

Remove a file:

rm notes.txt

⚠️ This permanently deletes files (no Trash)

7. cp — Copy Files

Copy a file:

cp file.txt backup.txt

✂️ 8. mv — Move or Rename Files

Rename a file:

mv oldname.txt newname.txt

Move a file:

mv file.txt Documents/

9. open — Open Files or Apps

Open current folder in Finder:

open .

Open an app:

open -a Safari

10. defaults — Change Hidden macOS Settings

Show hidden files:

defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles -bool true
killall Finder

Hide them again:

defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles -bool false
killall Finder

Bonus: Get Help for Any Command

Use the manual:

man ls

Press Q to exit.

Quick Commands You’ll Use Most

If you only remember a few commands, start with these:

  • `ls` → See what’s in a folder
  • `cd` → Move between folders
  • `pwd` → See where you are
  • `open .` → Open current folder in Finder

Want to Go Further?

If you plan to use Terminal more, having a good keyboard and screen setup makes a big difference, especially for longer sessions using the Terminal.

Final Thoughts

You don’t need to memorize everything at once.

Start with these 10 commands and you’ll already be ahead of most Mac users.

👉 The more you use Terminal, the more natural it becomes.