How to Open the Terminal App on Mac

Today's WikiHow will show you how to open the Terminal tool (command line environment) on a Mac computer using Launchpad, Spotlight or Finder (application names on the MacOS operating system). Terminal will help you access the Unix operating system on MacOS so you can manage files, edit settings and launch programs via the command line.

Use Launchpad

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Open Launchpad. The application has a silver rocket icon on the dock. The dock is a panel of icons that is usually located at the bottom of the screen, however, it can be moved to the left or right.

If you're using a laptop, you can also launch Launchpad by performing a four-finger pinch on the trackpad.

Alternatively, you can open the application by pressing the key F4.

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Click the Other folder . The folder has a square icon with a few smaller icons inside.

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Click Terminal . The Terminal application will launch a command prompt.

If you don't see the Terminal app in the Other folder, it may have been moved to another location on Launchpad. If you still can't find the app, try another method.

Use Spotlight

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Click the Spotlight icon. This application looks like a magnifying glass, located in the upper right corner of the screen.

You can also start Spotlight by pressing the ⌘ Command+ key combination Space.

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Type terminalin the search box. The Terminal app will appear in the search results.

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Double-click Terminal . The Terminal application will launch the command prompt immediately.

Use Finder

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Open the Finder application. This icon is located at the bottom of the screen, looking like two shades on the same face.

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Click Applications . It's on the left side of the Finder panel.

If you don't see "Applications" in the left panel, click the Go task at the top of the screen and select Applications .

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Click Utilities . You may have to scroll down a bit to find it.

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Double-click Terminal . You may have to scroll down a bit to find it. The Terminal application will launch the command prompt immediately.

Lesley Montoya

Update 25 October 2023

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