View source for Terminal (macOS)

{{Short description|Default macOS terminal emulator}}{{Other uses|Terminal (disambiguation)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2013}}
{{Infobox software
| name = Terminal
| logo = terminalicon3.png
| screenshot = [[File:Terminal Running Top on macOS Sonoma.png|250px]]
| caption = Terminal 2.14 running the [[top (software)|top]] program under macOS Sonoma
| developer = [[Apple Inc.]]
| released = {{Start date and age|2001|03|27}}
| latest release version = 2.15 (464)
| latest release date = {{Start date and age|2025|09|15}}
| programming language = [[Objective-C]]
| operating system = [[macOS]]
| platform = {{ubl
| '''Current''': [[ARM64]], [[x86-64]]
| '''Former''': [[IA-32]], [[PowerPC]]
}}
| genre = [[Terminal emulator]]
| license = Proprietary
}}
'''Terminal''' is the [[terminal emulator]] included in the [[macOS]] [[operating system]] by [[Apple Inc|Apple]].<ref>{{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.|Apple Inc]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130510222144/http://www.apple.com/osx/apps/all.html#terminal |archive-date=May 10, 2013 }}</ref> Terminal originated in [[NeXTSTEP]] and [[OPENSTEP]], the predecessor operating systems of macOS.<ref>{{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}}</ref>

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 [[Z shell|zsh]] (the default interactive shell since [[macOS Catalina]]<ref>{{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}}</ref>).<ref name=":0">{{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}}</ref> The user can choose other shells available with macOS, such as the [[KornShell]], [[tcsh]], and [[Bash (Unix shell)|bash]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{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}}</ref>

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 escape code|ansi]]'', ''dtterm'', ''nsterm'', ''[[rxvt]]'', ''[[VT52|vt52]]'', ''[[VT100|vt100]]'', ''[[VT100#Variants|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]].<ref>{{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 }}</ref>

Terminal includes several features that specifically access macOS APIs and features, such as the command ''mdfind'' which is the terminal interface of [[Spotlight (Apple)|Spotlight]].<ref>{{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}}</ref>{{failed verification|date=April 2025}}<ref>{{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}}</ref>{{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.<ref>{{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}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[List of terminal emulators]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{Commons category|Terminal (macOS)}}
{{macOS}}
{{Terminal emulators}}

{{Mac-software-stub}}

[[Category:Utility software for macOS]]
[[Category:Terminal emulators]]