Terminal (macOS)

{{Short description|Default macOS terminal emulator}}{{Other uses|Terminal (disambiguation)}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2013}}

{{Infobox software

| name = Terminal

| logo = terminalicon2.png

| screenshot = 250px

| caption = Terminal 2.14 running the top program under macOS Sonoma

| developer = Apple Inc.

| released = {{Start date and age|2001|03|27}}

| latest release version = 2.14 (454.1)

| latest release date = {{Start date and age|2024|09|16}}

| programming language = Objective-C

| operating system = macOS

| platform = {{ubl

| Current: ARM64, x86-64

| Former: IA-32, PowerPC

}}

| genre = Terminal emulator

| license = Proprietary

}}

Terminal (Terminal.app) is the terminal emulator included in the macOS operating system by Apple.{{cite web|url=https://www.apple.com/osx/apps/all.html#terminal |title=What Is Mac OS X - All Applications and Utilities - Terminal |publisher=Apple Inc |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130510222144/http://www.apple.com/osx/apps/all.html#terminal |archive-date=May 10, 2013 }} Terminal originated in NeXTSTEP and OPENSTEP, the predecessor operating systems of macOS.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dLSqP2jWQEoC&q=terminal+originated+in+NeXTStep+and+OpenStep&pg=PA18|title=Computational Biology: Unix/Linux, data processing and programming : with 19 figures and 12 tables|last=Wünschiers|first=Röbbe|date=2004-01-01|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=9783540211426|language=en}}

As a terminal emulator, the application provides text-based access to the operating system, in contrast to the mostly graphical nature of the user experience of macOS, by providing a command-line interface to the operating system when used in conjunction with a Unix shell, such as zsh (the default interactive shell since macOS Catalina{{Cite web|url=https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208050|title=Use zsh as the default shell on your Mac|website=Apple Support|language=en|access-date=2020-01-18}}).{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N--YV7uyDI8C&q=os+x+%22terminal+app%22&pg=PA9|title=The Mac OS X Command Line: Unix Under the Hood|last=McElhearn|first=Kirk|date=2006-12-26|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=9780470113851|language=en}} The user can choose other shells available with macOS, such as the KornShell, tcsh, and bash.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7iTaD6MFFY0C&q=%22command+line%22|title=Take Control of the Mac Command Line with Terminal|last=Kissell|first=Joe|date=2009-01-01|publisher=TidBITS Publishing, Inc.|isbn=9781933671550|language=en}}

The preferences dialog for Terminal.app in OS X 10.8 (Mountain Lion) and later offers choices for values of the TERM environment variable. Available options are ansi, dtterm, nsterm, rxvt, vt52, vt100, vt102, xterm, xterm-16color and xterm-256color, which differ from the OS X 10.5 (Leopard) choices by dropping the xterm-color and adding xterm-16color and xterm-256color. These settings do not alter the operation of Terminal, and the xterm settings do not match the behavior of xterm.{{citation |url=http://invisible-island.net/ncurses/terminfo.src.html#toc-_Apple__Terminal_app |section=nsterm - AppKit Terminal.app |title=terminfo.src |access-date=June 7, 2013 }}

Terminal includes several features that specifically access macOS APIs and features, such as the command mdfind which is the terminal interface of Spotlight.{{Cite web |date=2006-12-05 |title=Use Spotlight from the Command Line with mdfind |url=https://osxdaily.com/2006/12/05/use-spotlight-from-the-command-line-with-mdfind/ |access-date=2025-04-15 |website=OS X Daily |language=en}}{{failed verification|date=April 2025}}{{Cite web |date=2012-10-29 |title=Finding Files from the Command Line |url=https://osxdaily.com/2012/10/29/finding-files-from-the-command-line/ |access-date=2025-04-15 |website=OS X Daily |language=en}}{{failed verification|date=April 2025}} Terminal offers a range of profiles that include custom font and coloring options, and custom profiles can be created as well.{{Cite web |last=Loder |first=Chip |date=2025-04-11 |title=How to use profiles to change how Terminal windows look in macOS |url=https://appleinsider.com/inside/macos/tips/how-to-use-profiles-to-change-how-terminal-windows-look-in-macos |access-date=2025-04-15 |website=AppleInsider |language=en}}