6 simple ways to open Terminal on Mac

Terminal is a handy tool for giving your Mac commands, although many may be intimidated by it. After all, it’s not as easy as just typing in a sentence and your Mac responding. We have some articles listed below that can help you with common commands if you’re interested in learning to use Terminal or if you just want to enter a command or two. Either way, before you can use it, you have to open it, right?

There are various methods for launching it. Here are six simple ways to open Terminal on Mac.

Terminal Command Window

1. Open Terminal using Spotlight Search

One of the quickest and easiest ways to open Terminal on Mac is with Spotlight Search:

1) If you have the Spotlight Search button in your menu bar, click it. Otherwise, you can use the keyboard shortcut Command + Space.

2) Type in “Terminal.”

3) You should see the Terminal application under Top Hit at the top of your results. Double-click it and Terminal will open.

Open Terminal with Spotlight Search

2. Open Terminal using Finder

Open Finder or make sure that your menu bar is using Finder and not another application:

1) Click Go > Utilities from the menu bar.

2) In the Utilities folder that opens, double-click Terminal.

Open Terminal from Finder Utilties

3. Open Terminal using the Applications folder

If you have a Finder window open, you can access Terminal from the Applications folder:

1) Select Applications from the left side.

2) Click the arrow to expand the Utilities folder.

3) Double-click Terminal.

Open Terminal from Finder Applications Utilties

If you have the Applications folder in your Dock as I do, you can open Terminal from there too:

1) Click Applications in your dock.

2) Select Utilities.

3) Choose Terminal.

Open Terminal from Dock Applications Utilties

4. Open Terminal using Launchpad

You can open Terminal using Launchpad in two ways, depending on if you have organized Launchpad in a different way or not. By default, Launchpad contains a folder labeled Other that contains Terminal:

1) Open Launchpad from your Dock with the keyboard shortcut F4, or tap the six-square-icon button on the Touch Bar.

2) Locate the Other folder and click it.

3) Choose Terminal.

Open Terminal from Launchpad Other

If you have arranged your Launchpad items differently and removed the Other folder, you can still find Terminal easily:

1) Open Launchpad.

2) Type “Terminal” into the search box at the top.

3) When the Terminal icon displays, click it.

Open Terminal with Launchpad Search

5. Open Terminal using Siri

Thanks to a helpful comment from one of our readers, there is one more super simple way to open Terminal on Mac; using Siri:

1) Click the Siri button from your menu bar or open Siri from your Applications folder.

2) Using your microphone, simply say “Open Terminal.”

Open Terminal with Siri

6. Create a Terminal shortcut

If you decide to start using Terminal more often, creating a shortcut for it in your Dock is convenient. With the Terminal icon in your Dock already, from recently opening it, do the following:

1) Hold Control and click the Terminal icon in the Dock or right-click it.

2) Mouse over Options in the pop-up menu.

3) Click Keep in Dock.

Create Shortcut Keep Terminal in Dock

Terminal is a terrific tool for doing things quickly on your Mac. And once you get the hang of it and bookmark some useful commands, it’s not as intimidating anymore. Have you tried to use Terminal yet, or are you interested in learning more about it so that you can use it?

Terminal commands and tips: