Terminal Tips and Tricks for macOS and Linux

The terminal is one of the most powerful tools available to developers and power users. Whether you're on macOS or Linux, these tips will help you move faster, reduce repetition, and get more out of your shell.

Shell Basics Worth Knowing

Navigate Faster

Most people use cd to move around, but a few lesser-known tricks save a lot of keystrokes:

cd -          # Jump back to the previous directory
cd ~          # Go to your home directory
pushd /some/path   # Push current dir onto a stack, jump to new path
popd               # Pop back to the previous stacked directory

Jump to Recent Directories with z

z (or zoxide) is a smarter cd that learns your habits:

brew install zoxide   # macOS
# or
sudo apt install zoxide  # Linux (Debian/Ubuntu)

Add to your shell config:

eval "$(zoxide init bash)"   # or zsh

Now just type z proj to jump to your most-used project directory - no full path needed.

Keyboard Shortcuts That Matter

These work in bash and zsh:

Shortcut	Action
Ctrl+A	Jump to start of line
Ctrl+E	Jump to end of line
Ctrl+W	Delete word before cursor
Ctrl+U	Clear entire line
Ctrl+R	Search command history
Ctrl+L	Clear the screen
!!	Repeat last command
!$	Last argument of previous command

Aliases: Your Time-Savers

Aliases let you create short commands for things you type constantly. Add these to your ~/.zshrc or ~/.bashrc:

# Navigation
alias ..='cd ..'
alias ...='cd ../..'
alias ll='ls -lah'
alias la='ls -A'

# Git shortcuts
alias gs='git status'
alias ga='git add .'
alias gc='git commit -m'
alias gp='git push'
alias gl='git log --oneline --graph --decorate'

# Safety nets
alias rm='rm -i'          # Prompt before deleting
alias cp='cp -i'
alias mv='mv -i'

# Utilities
alias reload='source ~/.zshrc'
alias ip='curl -s ifconfig.me'
alias ports='lsof -i -P -n | grep LISTEN'

After editing your config, reload it:

source ~/.zshrc

Functions for More Complex Tasks

When an alias isn't enough, use a shell function:

# Create a directory and immediately cd into it
mkcd() {
  mkdir -p "$1" && cd "$1"
}

# Quick backup of a file
backup() {
  cp "$1" "$1.bak.$(date +%Y%m%d)"
}

# Extract any archive type
extract() {
  case "$1" in
    *.tar.gz|*.tgz) tar xzf "$1" ;;
    *.tar.bz2)       tar xjf "$1" ;;
    *.zip)           unzip "$1" ;;
    *.gz)            gunzip "$1" ;;
    *.rar)           unrar x "$1" ;;
    *)               echo "Unknown archive type: $1" ;;
  esac
}

Useful One-Liners

Find and Replace Text in Files

# Replace "foo" with "bar" in all .txt files
find . -name "*.txt" -exec sed -i '' 's/foo/bar/g' {} \;
# On Linux, drop the '' after -i:
find . -name "*.txt" -exec sed -i 's/foo/bar/g' {} \;

Show Disk Usage at a Glance

df -h          # Disk usage per partition
du -sh *       # Size of each item in current directory
du -sh /* 2>/dev/null | sort -h   # Sort by size

Kill a Process Using a Port

# Find what's using port 3000
lsof -i :3000

# Kill it
kill -9 $(lsof -t -i:3000)

Watch a Command Repeatedly

watch -n 2 'df -h'    # Run df -h every 2 seconds

Count Files in a Directory

ls -1 | wc -l

History Tips

Your command history is a goldmine. Make the most of it:

# Search history interactively (Ctrl+R does this too)
history | grep "docker"

# Run a command from history by number
!42

# Increase history size in .zshrc or .bashrc
HISTSIZE=10000
HISTFILESIZE=20000

# Avoid duplicate entries
HISTCONTROL=ignoredups:erasedups

macOS-Specific Tips

Use pbcopy and pbpaste

Copy command output to the clipboard:

cat file.txt | pbcopy
pwd | pbcopy

Paste from clipboard into a file:

pbpaste > output.txt

Open Files and URLs from the Terminal

open .                        # Open current folder in Finder
open file.pdf                 # Open with default app
open https://example.com      # Open in default browser
open -a "Visual Studio Code" .  # Open with a specific app

Quick Look from the Terminal

qlmanage -p image.png    # Preview a file with Quick Look

Linux-Specific Tips

System Monitoring

htop          # Interactive process viewer (install with brew/apt)
iotop         # Disk I/O by process
nethogs       # Network usage by process

systemd Service Management

sudo systemctl status nginx     # Check service status
sudo systemctl start nginx      # Start a service
sudo systemctl enable nginx     # Enable on boot
sudo journalctl -fu nginx       # Follow service logs

Customizing Your Prompt

A good prompt shows you what you need at a glance. For zsh, consider Starship - a fast, cross-shell prompt:

brew install starship

Add to the end of your ~/.zshrc:

eval "$(starship init zsh)"

Starship automatically shows your git branch, Python version, Node version, and more - only when relevant.

Tools Worth Installing

These aren't built-in but are worth adding:

• ripgrep (rg) - Much faster than grep
• fd - Faster and friendlier than find
• bat - cat with syntax highlighting
• eza - A modern replacement for ls
• fzf - Fuzzy finder for files and history
• tldr - Simplified man pages

Install them all at once on macOS:

brew install ripgrep fd bat eza fzf tldr

On Linux (Debian/Ubuntu):

sudo apt install ripgrep fd-find bat fzf

The terminal rewards the time you put into learning it. Start with a few aliases and one or two new tools, get comfortable, then build from there.