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Mac Terminal Cheat Sheet

SHORTCUTS

Key/Command Description
Tab Auto-complete files and folder names
Ctrl + A Go to the beginning of the line you are currently typing on
Ctrl + E Go to the end of the line you are currently typing on
Ctrl + U Clear the line before the cursor
Ctrl + K Clear the line after the cursor
Ctrl + W Delete the word before the cursor
Ctrl + T Swap the last two characters before the cursor
Esc + T Swap the last two words before the cursor
Ctrl + R Lets you search through previously used commands
Ctrl + L or Command + K Clears the Screen
Ctrl + C Kill whatever you are running
Ctrl + D Exit the current shell

CORE COMMANDS

cd Home directory
cd [folder] Change directory
cd ~ Home directory, e.g. ‘cd ~/folder/’
cd / Root of drive
ls Short listing
ls -l Long listing
ls -a Listing incl. hidden files
ls -lh Long listing with Human readable file sizes
ls -R Entire content of folder recursively
sudo [command] Run command with the security privileges of the superuser (Super User DO)
open [file] Opens a file
open . Opens the directory
top Displays active processes. Press q to quit
nano [file] Opens the Terminal it’s editor
pico [file] Opens the Terminal it’s editor
q Exit
clear Clear screen

COMMAND HISTORY

history n Shows the stuff typed – add a number to limit the last n items
ctrl-r Interactively search through previously typed commands
![value] Execute the last command typed that starts with ‘value’
!! Execute the last command typed

FILE MANAGEMENT

touch [file] Create new file
pwd Full path to working directory
.. Parent/enclosing directory, e.g.
ls -l .. Long listing of parent directory
cd ../../ Move 2 levels up
. Current folder
cat Concatenate to screen
rm [file] Remove a file, e.g. rm [file] [file]
rm -i [file] Remove with confirmation
rm -r [dir] Remove a directory and contents
rm -f [file] Force removal without confirmation
rm -i [file] Will display prompt before
cp [file] [newfile] Copy file to file
cp [file] [dir] Copy file to directory
mv [file] [new filename] Move/Rename, e.g. mv -v [file] [dir]

DIRECTORY MANAGEMENT

mkdir [dir] Create new directory
mkdir -p [dir]/[dir] Create nested directories
rmdir [dir] Remove directory ( only operates on empty directories )
rm -R [dir] Remove directory and contents

PIPES – Allows to combine multiple commands that generate output

more Output content delivered in screensize chunks
> [file] Push output to file, keep in mind it will get overwritten
>> [file] Append output to existing file
< Tell command to read content from a fi

HELP

[command] -h Offers help
[command] —help Offers help
[command] help Offers help
reset Resets the terminal display
man [command] Show the help for ‘command’
whatis [command] Gives a one-line description of ‘command’
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