To see a list of currently running processes and how much CPU and memory they’re currently using, execute top. This is especially useful for printing a path that you can later copy and paste. To display the current directory that you’re in (or “print working directory”), you can use the pwd command. If you want to edit a system file, for example, you might need to use sudo nano in order to save your changes. Some commands require root access in order to work. Once you’ve entered a command prefixed by sudo, you’ll be required to enter your administrator password to execute it. The sudo prefix is used to execute a command as a “super user,” also known as root or admin.

To save a file, hit Control+O (known as “Write Out”) or quit without saving using Control+X. Once you’re in nano, pay attention to the commands at the bottom of the screen, which involve the control key. Use cp to initiate the copy command, add a flag where required, and then enter the target file or folder, followed by a space, and then add the destination folder. Remember, you can also use the same location shortcuts that you’d use with the cd command (e.g. For example, use -C to get a multi-column output, -S to sort by size, -lt to sort by date modified, -la for detailed contents including hidden files, or -lh to create a list with readable file sizes. You can add flags to the ls command to get different results. Append it with a location on the drive to specifically target that directory. List Files & Folders: lsĪlso useful in navigating your drive, ls can be used to list the contents of the current directory simply by executing the command. 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. You can use shortcuts to quickly skip to certain directories.

Create file on mac terminal