How to Open a Folder on a Mac Using a Command in Terminal

This practical guide walks through how to open a folder on a Mac using a command in terminal, explains the main requirements, and highlights common issues that may appear along the way.

There's also another way you can open whatever folder you want on your Mac: using Terminal.

Admittedly, accessing folders using Terminal is more complicated than navigating in Finder. So why spend more effort doing the same job? There are a few key benefits to using Terminal to open folders - things the Finder can't offer - at least in some specific situations.

How to open a folder from Terminal

To get started, open Terminal by navigating to the ' Application -> Utilities ' folder , or by typing 'Terminal' in Spotlight.

After the Terminal opens, you should basically be able to open any folder from the Mac Terminal using specific commands. The general syntax is as follows:

open /???ng d?n/??n/th? m?c/

For example, to open the Pictures folder, you would use the following command:

open /Users/tênng??idùng/Pictures

This command will open the Pictures folder in a Finder window. You can then use it to access the files contained in the folder.

There are also a bunch of other short commands you can use to access specific directories. For example:

To open the Root folder, use the command:

open /

For your Home folder (i.e. the folder containing Desktop, Documents, and other user-specific folders), type:

open ~

To open the current working folder in Finder, use the command:

open .

Alternatively, you can also launch and update Mac apps from the Terminal without using Finder. For example, to open Safari, type:

open /Applications/Safari.app

You can of course replace Safari with any app on your system as long as you know its corresponding filename.

Open a folder in Terminal from the Shortcut Menu

Maybe you want to 'reverse the situation' and open a Finder folder in Terminal. In other words, make it your current working directory. This can be done by adding a shortcut that will appear when you right click.

Navigate to System ' Preferences -> Keyboard '.

Next, navigate to the Shortcuts tab . Here, click on the Services menu and scroll down to find the ' New Terminal at Folder ' option.

If you selected any of the folders in the Finder, open the Services menu from the Toolbar and choose ' New Terminal at Folder '.

This is especially useful if you frequently have to switch between the GUI and Terminal.