Set zsh as default macos. It offers features like syntax highlighting, autos.

Set zsh as default macos , the Ubuntu app) Run the following command to set ZSH as the default shell: echo "/usr/bin/zsh" | sudo tee -a /etc/shells The easiest way to change the default shell is to set your SHELL user environment variable. To maximize your productivity as a developer, customizing your terminal with Zsh and useful plugins is a must. I do. My default shell is set to zsh (configured with oh-my-zsh), but the Agent seems to be executing commands in a different shell. This can help reduce screen clutter and improve the clarity of your terminal sessions. macOS has transitioned from using the bash shell as its default to zsh (Z Shell) in recent versions, so it’s important to know how to edit the PATH in both shells. 15+) Apple replaced bash with zsh as the default shell for new user accounts. zshrc? 1️⃣ Customizing the Terminal Experience Mar 24, 2023 · Are you looking for a powerful and customizable shell that can be especially useful for power users and developers who spend a lot of time on the command line? Zsh, short for "Z Shell," is a command-line interpreter shell for Unix-based systems such as Linux and macOS. Dec 4, 2024 · Install Zsh via Homebrew: brew install zsh Configuring the Zsh as a default Shell After installation, set Zsh as your system’s default shell. In this expert-level guide, we‘ll walk you through the process of setting up Zsh (Z shell) and iTerm2 to supercharge your terminal experience and boost your productivity. In this extensive guide, I‘ll explain in detail how to install Zsh, set it as the default shell, customize it to your needs, and troubleshoot any issues. By modifying the prompt, you can display key information such as your username, machine name, or current directory in a way that suits your workflow. In this guide, we learn how to use Zsh to improve your command line To be clear: to set up Homebrew, you do not need to install bash manually or anything. You can check by doing: Jul 2, 2023 · Boosting everyday productivity by customising default macos terminal, install homebrew, zsh, oh my zsh, plugins & powerlevel10k theme. Once configured, ZSH supercharges your terminal with handy features for developers and power users. Open the terminal (bash or zsh) whatever shell you are using. Apr 26, 2025 · Editing the PATH environment variable on macOS is essential for users who want to manage the accessibility of command-line tools and scripts from the terminal. It also works in macOS v10. 15), Apple switched the default shell from Bash to Zsh for security and feature improvements. sh in Dec 16, 2020 · The oh-my-zsh install will replace your default terminal with zsh automatically when installed. If you upgraded your Mac from an earlier version of the macOS, then those existing user accounts are still using the Bash shell. And I don't want zsh to be default in those two. Configure Zsh: Zsh uses a configuration file called . There are several reasons you might want to do this. Now, that we have the basic installation out of the way, let's make sure everything looks nice before we get to set up more functionality. Terminal might be not fancy to begin with, but you can totally make it more elegant and fancy if you follow with me. Each time you reopen Terminal, the terminal will be there, in the same directory. dscl showed /bin/zsh was set. In this comprehensive guide, we‘ll explore the simple command to start using Zsh on macOS. Installation See Command Shell. Search for "Edit Environment variables for your account" to bring up the environment variables window, create a new variable named "SHELL" and give it the value "/usr/bin/zsh/". This comprehensive guide will walk you through configuring environment variables, managing shell profiles, and setting up aliases for optimal productivity. Get up and running with some essential options and plugins, and an informative prompt theme. Starting with macOS Catalina the default shell is zsh. Paste the link to your fish command, which generally is /usr/local/bin/fish. If the change shell command didn't work, something is blocking it. Z shell (Zsh) is a Unix shell built on top of bash (the default shell for macOS) wi Aug 25, 2020 · 4 I'm using Hyper as my terminal application and I just installed Oh My Zsh via curl. external. and now i want to make it the default shell instead of Bash. What I want is that Edge does ask for being the default browser. $~ brew install zsh $~ which zsh /usr/local/bin/zsh #output 🔗 2. In the example it sets the default terminal to be the iTerm app: "terminal. //type "y" to accept and then check that it was installed correctly zsh --version //make zsh your default shell chsh -s $(which zsh) Launch Zsh and go through through the first-time setup process. It worked for a small bit, but then it changed to Git Bash (my previous default shell). But Catalina replaced it with zsh. Also not technically set as the default shell via chsh on Linux, but I set PowerShell as the default shell on all terminals I use. I Feb 21, 2021 · Is there a way to make NeoVim as default text/code editor (without any bad side effects) ?Trust me, I looked to lots of StackOverflow question/answers and tried a few things but nothing worked for Zsh is a powerful shell that operates as both an interactive shell and as a scripting language interpreter. We‘ll compare Zsh […] Jun 8, 2023 · I noticed that my default shell set to zsh on Macos Catalina/Big Sur/Monterey/Ventura. 💡 Why We Need ~/. osxExec": "iTerm. While being compatible with the POSIX sh (not by default, only if issuing emulate sh), it offers advantages such as improved tab completion and globbing. But, I guess most of us have long back started to work with Python-3 and it is very irritating to run python3 every time instead of python in terminal. For me , after running this command then when I opened a new terminal window my terminal looked different as I prior to converting to zsh I had the Yoncé Bash It theme set up which zsh doesn't support. If you use some other shell, modify that shell's startup files instead (e. zshrc). Zsh is highly configurable but configuration can be tricky. Restart the Terminal, and bash will now be set as your default shell. Aug 20, 2018 · 2018-08-20 I prefer zsh over bash as my everyday shell. You want to go out of the ordinary, to add life to the boring terminal and improve your productivity. 14-) See Apple Support page, Use zsh as the default shell on your Mac Surprisingly this doesn't work with the command line tools as one would expect. Apr 19, 2023 · For Mac computers, the default shell was always bash (Bourne-Again shell) up until the release of macOS Catalina, when it was replaced with zsh as the default. Install python-3 using Homebrew (https://brew. Apple will set the Zsh as the default for any new user account that is created in macOS Catalina or later. Apr 17, 2023 · How to run chsh -s /bin/zsh [Re-Titled by Moderator] Zsh, or z shell, is a popular shell alternative to bash and tcsh, complete with many improvements and customization options offered through the Oh-My-ZSH project. ” This doesn’t mean that the current default shell on your system is zsh. app` must be one of the most used apps. I tried resetting Terminal->Preferences to /bin/zsh. macOS Catalina and later (10. Works like a charm, much prefer it over bash, zsh even for daily CLI usage. shell. See this screenshot where zsh is being set as default. bash_profile file instead, as the abovementioned file is not used by default when starting a bash shell on this system. Sep 19, 2024 · Guide to installing the latest Python version on macOS Sequoia and Sonoma, setting it as the default interpreter Starting with macOS 15 Catalina, zsh will be the default macOS shell. integrated. macOS will scream at you when you open the shell that the “default interactive shell is now zsh. But I seem to be running into the following error: See full list on howtogeek. While macOS ships with the reliable bash shell, Zsh offers advanced functionality and customization options that make it worth upgrading to. With ZSH's robust capabilities and extensive customization options, it is easy to set environment variables to make global changes across all launched programs. Actually, it doesn't set the default shell, just the one you use for that session. Here is how to do this. Sep 9, 2021 · Describe the feature you'd like I want a feature: option to choose default shell for kitty for example: on macOS, i have both default terminal and kitty terminal. bashrc or . Jan 15, 2021 · Every new Mac uses the (Zsh) by default, but you can quickly and easily switch the default shell back to Bash. I installed zsh on my Mac. Change the default shell in Terminal on Mac The default shell is zsh. Mar 26, 2024 · You’ll have to re-run that command whenever you want to use bash instead of zsh. zshrc. Terminal will need a restart to take effect. This article explodes some advantages of Fish, such as pre-installed plugins, faster and simpler setup, along with a step-by-step guide to make your migration seamless and efficient. To set bash as your default login shell and interactive shell on macOS, follow these steps: Step 1. But as you tagged the question with oh-my-zsh I would assume that you want to restore the default oh-my-zsh configuration. -. Notably it provides a comprhensive command-line completion system that can save a lot of time when you're working in the terminal. Aug 3, 2024 · Install iTerm2, then open and configure its Profile (color presets) like below. On Windows, this includes PowerShell 5 & 7, WSL2, and Git Bash. Jun 4, 2019 · Apple is moving away from the bash shell on macOS. This tutorial will help you for switching between Zsh and Bash on macOS systems. Jul 4, 2024 · I have been migrating my macos system’s homebrew setup over to home manager, and I ran into a problem: using fish as my interactive shell without changing the default login shell from zsh. Sep 22, 2020 · I've started setting up ZSH for VSCode. Set zsh as default for macOS account Update macOS account to use zsh as the default by running chsh -s /bin/zsh. zshrc is actually no ~/. Is it possible to set it as the default editor in macOS? For example, when double click a text file in Finder, I want mac open Wezterm, cd to the file's directory and open that file for me. Apr 26, 2025 · The latest macOS systems comes with Z Shell (Zsh) as default shell, but who still preferred to use bash can still use it by switching the default shell. You can check by doing: If you are using Mac as development machine, `Terminal. zsh // Select option (2) to start with the default configuration 2 Install Oh My Zsh The installation command are the same for Ubuntu and MacOS. You should set both variables as some tools use one, and others may use the other. 12 (Sierra). macOS Mojave and earlier (10. Dec 29, 2021 · Recent versions of macOS now use zsh as the default command line shell. Change the default shell in Terminal on Mac The default shell is zsh. Jan 8, 2023 · Terminal Preferences are not required to set the default shell. com Jun 21, 2025 · Setting up your macOS shell environment properly is crucial for an efficient development workflow. linux": "/bin/bash" I just can't seem to find the right path to use for zsh Jan 4, 2023 · This will set Zsh as the default shell for your user account. However, ZSH offers more flexibility and customization options. Why Zsh? Zsh How to set zsh as default shell without using chsh Zsh is a powerful and customizable shell that is often preferred over the default shell on Linux and macOS. 14 (Mojave). zshrc or . In this guide we show you how to install Zsh and Feb 20, 2019 · Note that macOS users should probably modify the ~/. zshrc files. Apple includes a bash install with macOS, it's just an older version (tl;dr Apple doesn't want to deal with GPLv3 licensing and therefore switched to zsh by default rather than bundle newer versions of bash). May 5, 2012 · I am trying to set ZSH as my default shell, however it keeps reverting back to bash. The rc file is run every time a new shell is created and is used to set up the shell itself. zsh_profile if your system’s default shell is zsh. Feb 15, 2023 · If you’ve just upgraded macOS and seen a message that says, 'The default interactive shell is now zsh', we’ll tell you why and what to do about it. On macOS and Linux, this includes bash, zsh, fish, and PowerShell (pwsh). The macOS Terminal is a ZSH terminal shell (aka Z shell) which runs on a Unix-like operating system (macOS, Linux, BSD, Windows/WSL2). This needs to be done with As you can see above, I was on the bash shell ($) before and typing zsh switched me to Z Shell (%) ️ Since macOS Catalina Zsh is the default shell, you might see "The default interactive shell is now zsh. Sep 23, 2023 · How to configure zsh theme from scratch on a mac, set up oh my zsh, install zsh plugins like autosuggestions and syntax-highlighting Aug 14, 2022 · The latest Mac OS X versions comes with zsh as the default shell. Let’s set it up! You can find my dotfiles here Open The Terminal App Open the default terminal app on macOs. g. bash_profile with . Learn command-line - Installing ZSH as default shell on macOS Aug 4, 2023 · Learn how to install zsh, get the most out of the Oh My Zsh framework, configure plugins, and learn a variety of productivity-enhancing zsh techniques. Are you looking to enhance your terminal and command-line workflow on Mac? Then setting Zsh as the default shell is an impactful upgrade. Find 'Shells open with' setting and choose the second option which needs complete path to the shell. Apr 15, 2017 · Bash comes pre-installed on most terminals, but its not the best shell out there. Here's a quick guide on how to make it as a default shell for your machine: 🔗 1. We've also included an env. zshrc for zsh). It covers an overview of both shells, the steps for setting them up, Dec 29, 2018 · Zsh, or z shell, is a popular shell alternative to bash and tcsh, complete with many improvements and customization options offered through the Oh-My-ZSH project. zshrc configuration file controls all ZSH behavior and customization Nov 24, 2024 · As a professional software engineer and coding instructor with over 15 years of experience, I‘ve come to master the art of customizing my terminal into a productive power tool. You can change the shell that new Terminal windows and tabs open with. If you’d like to use zsh as the default shell in Terminal for Mac OS rather than bash, you can do so rather easily with taking the following steps: Nov 26, 2024 · Discover how switching from Zsh to Fish shell can enhance your productivity with faster performance, rich built-in functionality, and an user-friendly configuration experience. Mar 26, 2024 · This will set your default shell to bash. sh file where we store our aliases, exports, path changes Apr 17, 2011 · As of Mac OS X Lion 10. Step 1: Install Zsh The first step is to install Zsh. Aug 23, 2023 · A 5 minutes guide to customizing your macOS terminal to increase productivity and improve the interface. Finally, verify if the PATH has been set—and reset to the default PATH settings—correctly Feb 15, 2025 · As of macOS Catalina (10. The default zsh prompt, also known as PS1, typically zsh The Z shell (also known as zsh) is a Unix shell that is built on top of bash (the default shell for macOS) with additional features. If not, install it with brew. After that, quit the Terminal by pressing Cmd + Q. The default shell in macOS is Bash – good but not for all terminal operations, especially as scripting environment. It is an alternative to the default shell, Bash. Before Starting You should be familiar with using the macOS Terminal command line. A key reason many programmers switch is all the different Mar 21, 2012 · Tired of bash? Prefer zsh, ksh, tcsh, fish, or sh? You can quickly change the default shell in Terminal app, in addition to changing a users default login shell for when logging in remotely with SS… Mar 12, 2022 · History of Zsh Shell with macOS Apple released macOS Catalina at WWDC 2019 on October 7, 2019, it was shipped with Zsh shell as the default login shell and interactive shell, replacing the Bash shell which had been the default shell since the Mac OS X Panther that was released in the year 2003. Using zsh as an example (the default shell on macOS since 10. I'd like it to be my default shell environment but for some reason whenever I restart Hyper I have to run the zsh command to get to Oh My Zsh. You can verify the default shell by typing echo $0 in the terminal. This post is going to describe how to switch from the zsh shell to the bash shell. I have tried this code: sudo chsh -s $(which zsh) I've also tried: sudo chsh -s /bin/zsh Also tried these co Aug 7, 2021 · Examining the default shell in System Preferences->Users by control-clicking on my user showed /bin/zsh was set. Jun 2, 2025 · I’m encountering an issue while using the Cursor Agent in my development environment on macOS. However, changing the default shell can be tricky, as it requires using the chsh command. **Install Zsh (if not already installed)* Jun 4, 2019 · Starting with the macOS Catalina beta, your Mac will use Z shell as the default shell in Terminal, replacing Bash, on the Mac since 2002. How do I change my default shell to bash on Macos Catalina or above using the command line or GUI options? By default zsh is very capable and provides many improvements over bash (the previous macOS default). Customizing the zsh prompt on macOS allows for a more personalized and efficient terminal experience. Follow step by step instructions to get started using ZSH on Mac OS X. After running this command your terminal should look different. Jun 8, 2023 · ZSH (Z shell) is a Unix shell designed as an improved alternative to the Bourne shell. via this feature, bash wi Dec 12, 2024 · Why ZSH Over Bash Most operating systems like MacOS default to using Bash as the command line shell. Dec 1, 2020 · There are several ways to get started with Python 3 on macOS, but one way is better than the others. app" I want to run zsh so i need to change the default linux bash shell "terminal. The new macOS Catalina update will include zsh as the default shell, and older macOS versions can also move to the new shell too Feb 14, 2025 · Improving your terminal productivity is the aim of every Developer and Engineer working for many hours on a Shell environment. The profile file is usually run once at login and is used to set up the environment for the user. See article. In this tutorial, you will learn to set environment variables using the ZSH shell. sh). So the default ~/. This setup is specifically for zsh (default) so make sure you are using that. The Zsh FAQ offers more reasons to use Zsh. It's also highly recommended to install a framework with zsh as it makes dealing with configuration, plugins and themes a lot nicer. Nov 15, 2021 · While zsh is now the default shell in Terminal app for modern macOS releases, Oh My Zsh is separate, and therefore must be installed and configured separately. zshrc, which you can create in your home directory (~/. Warp supports popular shells across macOS, Windows, and Linux. Apr 20, 2024 · As a full-stack developer, you spend a significant amount of time working with the command line. Answer: Setting up Oh My Zsh as your default shell on macOS involves a few straightforward steps. This guide simplifies the transition while spotlighting zsh's powerful features. Aug 24, 2024 · The default macOS terminal is basic and limited. Nov 15, 2018 · By Chiamaka Ikeanyi Sometimes, using the default terminal sucks. bash_profile changes are not going to change the default when you open a new terminal since the new terminal is a zsh shell and not a bash shell. Configuration Zsh can be configured with Home Manager May 1, 2024 · Alacritty is an awesome, minimal and fast terminal setup that has worked great for me as an alternative to iTerm2. Dec 16, 2021 · Now I have to set it each day manually (after the working day I set it back to Safari, which asks for that). Jul 21, 2024 · Wezterm is an awesome, fast terminal emulator written in Rust with great features that has worked great for me as an alternative to iTerm2 & Alacritty. Feb 13, 2023 · In this tutorial, we will show you how to install and set up Zsh and Oh-My-Zsh on macOS. Unfortunately, zsh is not the default shell on macOS. . I tried changing the shell back to ZSH, but it didn't display in the Apr 30, 2021 · I use the macOS default Terminal because that's what I used when I started learning to code and I'm loath to change (soz). If you’d like to use zsh as the default shell in Terminal for Mac OS rather than bash, you can do so rather easily with taking the following steps: Oct 7, 2024 · This command uses Homebrew, a popular package manager for macOS, to install Zsh. May 26, 2020 · Originally, the MacOs use bash as default shell when you open the terminal. As a result, commands like node and python, which are installed on my system and work perfectly fine in my terminal, fail to execute with the error: command not found. In this comprehensive 2800+ word […] Jan 8, 2023 · Set ZSH as the Default Shell On Windows Open a terminal running ZSH (e. Nov 19, 2025 · Optional step 3 – default shell To set zsh as your default shell, execute the following. May 16, 2025 · Want a cool looking Linux terminal? Try Zsh. Why? Can I switch it back? If so, how? Does it make sense to do so? Any gotchas? Oct 24, 2022 · fish is a smart and user-friendly command line shell for macOS, Linux, and the rest of the family. Since macOS Catalina, Apple has made Zsh the default shell, replacing Bash. I typically use the bash shell on Linux servers, so I prefer using it on my Mac. Sep 13, 2021 · Replace . Installing themes, plugins, setting default aliases and functions can proof to be a challenge on Bash. It offers features like syntax highlighting, autos Set as default terminal To set iTerm2 as the default terminal on macOS, you can do the following: Find a file in Finder Right-click on it Select Get Info Expand the Open With tab Choose iTerm2 from the dropdown menu Click Change All Terminal to open iTerm2 To open iTerm2 when you try to open default Terminal app on macOS, you have to do the following: Create a bash file called open_iterm. Aug 22, 2010 · Is there a way to make files opened for editing in the terminal open in Textedit instead? For example, where a command might open a file for editing (like git commit), instead of opening that fil Sep 6, 2023 · I felt comfortable using bash shell on MacOS. Dec 27, 2023 · Have you ever wondered if there‘s a better, more powerful shell beyond the default Bash experience on your Mac? Look no further than Zsh, the highly customizable Z shell that‘s a favorite of developers and power users. Install zsh Make sure zsh is available on your system. , But When Apple releases macOS Mojave, they set zsh as default… Discover seamless ways to switch from bash to zsh and enhance your command line experience. " message when you switch from zsh to bash. 7, Terminal supports Resume and by default will automatically restore terminals you had open when you quit, restoring their working directories. Is this normal? The first tab is 'General'. And Bash is great – it gets the job done on basic terminal tasks. Learn how to set up Zsh on Ubuntu Linux with Oh My Zsh. But if you are using bash, you can install it using the command brew: Dec 17, 2019 · Am I Forced to Change the Shell? Yes, and no. If May 13, 2022 · Hi, On my Mac when I click the + button I get a csh shell. 15): zsh uses the . Nov 30, 2021 · 272 you can try chsh -s /bin/bash to set the bash as the default, or chsh -s /bin/zsh to set the zsh as the default. The default terminal on macOS, while functional, can be greatly enhanced with the right tools and configurations. By the end, you‘ll be […] Dec 15, 2023 · By default, your Mac uses either zsh or bash as the command-line interpreter for the login shell and interactive shell: zsh (Z shell) is the default shell for all newly created user accounts, starting with macOS Catalina. For example, you may need to be using the bash shell to . Therefore, all those ~/. Zsh is the default shell program on MacOS and you can check the current shell by following the command line Jul 15, 2017 · 92 zsh itself does not have a default user configuration. ~/. So, you can just open a new terminal and cd to your git directory, then leave the window open when you Quit. Is there a way to change this? thanks. Zsh, or z shell, is a popular shell alternative to bash and tcsh, complete with many improvements and customization options offered through the Oh-My-ZSH project. If you’d like to use zsh as the default shell in Terminal for Mac OS rather than bash, you can do so rather easily with taking the following steps: Aug 4, 2025 · Key Takeaways ZSH provides significant productivity improvements over default shells through auto-completion, syntax highlighting, and plugin support Installation is straightforward across all major operating systems using package managers Setting ZSH as your default shell requires the chsh command and a session restart The . I'd rather get a zsh shell. You could try setting the default shell in your user account. zprofile and . It's recommended to use zsh over bash. Here’s a concise guide: 1. Set Zsh as Default Shell: After installing Zsh, you might want to set it as your default shell. (This works for bash by default. Dec 4, 2019 · By default MacOS ships with Python-2. I am using macOS v10. pbr ebqwnb fblli vxmd sga vglnjw jdibwx zkrlylp gppin wwby xhipsfsp dhrqp vdkkb yarvhtx wpcebtdq