#Open terminal window on mac how to
#Open terminal window on mac mac

The process list displayed using ps -ax may include a hundred or more processes, but it’s quite simple to identify a process based on the name in the CMD column (for example Skype is listed as /Applications/Skype.app/Contents/MacOS/Skype), or even by the PID if you already know it.Īs shown in Activity Monitor earlier, the Mail application on my Mac had the PID 14649, so it’s simple to scroll down the Terminal window until the relevant process is found.

Running Processes Displayed To Find a Specific Process Type ps -ax at Terminal’s command prompt to list every process running, along with additional details such as the PID, the elapsed time running, and the process name and location (shown in the CMD column).Enter apropos into the Terminal window for a description of that command and its options. The simplest way to discover the available command-line options is to type the command into Terminal followed by -? such as ls -?Īnother useful command is apropos. Note that many commands in Terminal can accept various options (sometimes called switches) that can alter their effect. To list the files in the current folder type ls -l.To show the current folder name type pwd.

#Open terminal window on mac how to

The current directory (the “working directory”) when you open Terminal always defaults to your Home Folder.īefore we describe how to check and terminate a process on your computer it’s worth knowing a few basic Terminal commands. The command prompt always begins with your computer name followed by your local Account Name. The second line is the command prompt which is where you enter the commands you wish to execute. The first line shows the date and time when you last logged in. Once it opens you’ll be presented with a standard Terminal window as below. Terminal is always represented by the icon below. The first step is to open Terminal either from the Applications -> Utilities folder or simply type Terminal into Spotlight. The Activity Monitor Application How to Use Terminal Note that process ID’s are assigned by Mac OS, and therefore will not be the same on your computer as somebody else’s. The Apple Mail application is displayed in Activity Monitor with a PID number of 14649. From here you can inspect or quit each process, but in this example we use Activity Monitor simply as a companion to Terminal. The main Activity Monitor window is shown below.Įach application on your Mac has an associated Process ID (a PID) and a user-friendly name. When used together, Activity Monitor and Terminal provide a powerful yet relatively straightforward way to inspect and manage wayward processes. Activity Monitor shows common process-related details such as the memory used and percentage of CPU that each process is consuming. We offer integration, migration, training, strategic consulting, and custom development.How To Uninstall & Delete Applications on Mac OSĪ related indispensable application is Activity Monitor – a graphical tool that allows you to manage processes, however it doesn’t have quite the same capabilities that Terminal does. Highbridge is my agency with two other partners that helps companies maximize their investment in sales, marketing, and related products. After working with virtually every major online marketing department in my tenure at ExactTarget and launching Compendium, I knew there was a great demand for my expertise and guidance within such a complex industry.ĭK New Media is my personal company overseeing my publications, podcasts, workshops, webinars, and speaking gigs. The Martech Zone is owned and operated by DK New Media, LLC, a company I started in 2009. Since I was focused on marketing technology, I didn’t want the domain with my name to get in the way, so I moved the site (painfully) to its new domain in 2008 where it’s grown ever since. I also wanted more control over the look and feel of my blog, so I moved to my domain in 2006 and built my first WordPress site. The combination of my technology background and my business and marketing acumen was in high demand as the Internet rapidly brought change to the industry.Īfter reading Naked Conversations, I was motivated to better brand and control the content on the site. Over time, I found out that more and more of the group were coming to me for technology advice. I belonged to a Marketing Book club in Indianapolis that quickly grew out of control. I was all over the place and mostly wrote for myself – without much of an audience. I began blogging on Blogger and waxed poetic about everything from politics to Internet tools. Years later I sold the domain to a company that helped folks quit smoking, one of my first big contracts. My first site was a site called Helping Hand that curated the best sites from around the web to help people with their computers and with navigating resources on the Internet. I started my work on the web more than two decades ago.