Absolute BEGINNER Guide to the Mac OS Terminal

In this video you'll get an absolute beginner introduction to the Mac OS terminal. By the end of the video you should feel comfortable browsing files and folders in your computer via the terminal. We'll also cover using the terminal to create, edit and delete files and folders. Along the way, you'll get pro tips that will help increase your terminal game quickly.

## Skills

✅ 0:30 - Where is the Terminal app?
✅ 0:45 - What does the $ mean in the Terminal?
✅ 1:25 - How to show files and folders in the Terminal
✅ 2:50 - How to change directories in the Terminal
✅ 4:23 - What does ".." and "." mean in the Terminal?
✅ 5:19 - How to clear the Terminal screen
✅ 6:00 - What does "~" mean in the Terminal?
✅ 6:50 - How to create files in the Terminal
✅ 7:13 - How to autocomplete file names in the Terminal
✅ 8:26 - How edit text and HTML files in the Terminal
✅ 10:12 - How to scroll through previous commands in the Terminal
✅ 11:26 - How to delete files in the Terminal
✅ 11:51 - How to create folders/directories in the Terminal
✅ 15:18 - How to delete folders/directories in the Terminal

## Terminal Commands

🕹 1:25 - pwd - print working directory, show the current folder/directory
🕹 1:25 - ls - show the files and folders/directories in the current folder/directory
🕹 2:50 - cd - change directories
🕹 5:19 - clear - clear the terminal screen
🕹 6:50 - touch - create a file in the terminal
🕹 8:26 - nano - simple terminal-based text editor
🕹 10:12 - history - show previous commands
🕹 11:26 - rm - remove (delete) files in the terminal
🕹 11:51 - mkdir - create folder/directory in the terminal
🕹 15:18 - rm -r - remove (delete) folders/directories in the terminal

## About

[hurbig]

Where would all the computer science students that didn't know a lot about the practical stuff prior to studying computer science be without people like you? Seriously, CS is such a hard field because there is tons of stuff University will not teach you but people expect you to know. Thank you very much for this introduction to the terminal!

[johnstultz]

Wow. I just started taking a Python Bootcamp an hour ago, and it mentioned the Terminal. I came here and was amazed by how fast you can learn a new skill that you never knew existed. Great video Percy. I am a new fan of yours now.

[CrazyPaine]

I didn't know anything about MacOS terminals at all and you broke it down for me so simply. Thank you so much. I screamed when I saw you could edit text on the terminal. I was shocked.

[maxp]

I’ve had a Mac for years and all this time I’ve been using the GUI to navigate and only recently been exposed to using the terminal, your tutorial is so easy to follow and understand. Thank you.

[brickbuilt]

I’m glad I found your channel. I can’t say I’ve found a use for terminal yet but I can say I now understand what it does. I thank you, sir.

[enrgys_world]

This tutorial has made me feel like a mac wizard, thank you so much

[stcenturyafropolitan]

Bro, this is beautiful. I have zero computer skills but you made it easy to grasp. Thoroughly enjoyed this lesson.

[im.sunshine]

So, I'm a health professional who has been curious how computers actually work and one of my IT friend referred your video. I must say, I practiced step by step along you & I practiced all the tasks you taught here. Thank you for making it so easy mate! :))

[bibeksingh]

Thank you for uploading this video, have been looking for something like this since a long time, your way of explaining things makes it extremely easy for the viewers to understand.

[googlenick]

it is truly a good tutorial that I had ever found, quite easy to learn and useful during working, appreciate it! hope to learn more from you

[hg-qzft]

My bootcamp prep course suggested this video to learn basics. Clear and concise. Cheers m8

[saniyairfan]

I am a literature student working in the area of Digital Humanities. We have a test tomorrow and I thought I was gonna fail because I did not know even a bit about Command Line. This video has helped me a lot in just 17 mins! Think I will do well in test tomorrow 😁 Thank you making me feel confident about knowing computers!

[chriskellervocalstudio]

been working with Terminal for a couple days and getting little accomplished. I understood everything in this 17 minute video and executed everything perfectly. Thank you!

[DavidKizivat]

There actually is a way to "go back" using cd command that is completely equivalent to what the "back" button does in Finder (which is that actually goes to previous location you've been to, not necessarily to the parent directory). It's cd - (minus). Just leaving it here cause I found it useful from time to time.

[phurisottatipreedawong]

I finished high school a few months ago and I plan to become a YouTuber, Artist and Programmers. If the plan doesn't work, after the pandemic I will study in university and/or operate family business. Today is the first day that I learn Python in Coursera. Thank You for your video.

[engineergirl]

currently in a coding bootcamp, and could not for the life of me use terminal or even understand it after weeks. sucks because at the beginning of every project and software installation they say "okay create a folder in your directory through terminal."....this video completely caught me up. thank you

[thegoodkush]

I wanted to learn python but figured I should figure out how to use my mac terminal first, this really helped me out! Thanks a lot man!!

[samanthafeinen]

Thank you so much for this video! I just started The Odin Project, and I was having a really hard time understanding this concept, and I feel like I totally understand this now!! Plus I'm teaching this to myself at 1:30 in the morning!

[carlitos]

Just switched to a Macbook Pro that my new job gave me, always been a Windows guy. This was super helpful and not unlike windows so that was a relief.

[paulksacco]

Thank you. I am a very old man to whom Terminal was a scary place. Now I see that it's like my life in DOS and pre-DOS! Baby Steps!