The same is the case from the command line. There are two commands for moving and copying: mv and cp.The first does the same as dragging a file to a new location on the same hard disk; the second.
- Apr 29, 2014 One useful flag for the mdfind command is the “-live” flag, which if included will run a full search on the specified query, and then pause without showing any more output. Then, if a file or folder that matches the query is added or removed, the command will continue to inform you by showing query updates.
- Aug 11, 2015 Typically if you’re looking to determine the file type and encoding of an item, you can simply look at the file in the Mac Finder, check the file name extension, Get Info about the file, or even open it to quickly find out what the file is. Of course, that’s limited to the user friendly file system of Mac OS X, and there are occasions where it may be necessary to detect how a file is encoded or what a file.
Search a folder hierarchy for filename(s) that meet a desired criteria.
Primaries
All primaries which take a numeric argument allow the number to be preceded by a plus sign (`+') or a minus sign (`-'). A preceding plus sign means `more than n', a preceding minus sign means `less than n' and neither means `exactly n'.
Operators
The primaries can be combined using the following operators. The operators are listed in order of decreasing precedence.
Bugs
The special characters used by find are also special characters to many shell programs. In particular, the characters *, [, ], ?, (, ), !, and ; might have to be escaped from the shell.
As there is no delimiter separating options and file names or file names and the expression, it is difficult to specify files named -xdev or !. These problems are handled by the -f option and the getopt(3) -- construct.
The -delete primary does not interact well with other options that cause the filesystem tree traversal options to be changed.
As there is no delimiter separating options and file names or file names and the expression, it is difficult to specify files named -xdev or !. These problems are handled by the -f option and the getopt(3) -- construct.
The -delete primary does not interact well with other options that cause the filesystem tree traversal options to be changed.
EXAMPLES
Print a list of all the files whose names do not end in .c.
Print a list of all the files whose names do not end in .c.
$ find / ! -name '*.c' -print
Print a list of all the files owned by user `wnj' that are newer than the file ttt.
$ find / -newer ttt -user wnj -print
Print out a list of all the files which are not both newer than ttt and owned by `simon'.
![Macos Search For File Type Command Line Macos Search For File Type Command Line](/uploads/1/2/6/5/126524917/408243701.png)
$ find / ! ( -newer ttt -user simon ) -print
Print a list of all the files that are either owned by `simon' or that are newer than ttt.
$ find / ( -newer ttt -or -user simon ) -print
Print out a list of all the files whose inode change time is more recent than the current time minus one minute:
$ find . -newerct '1 minute ago' -print
$ find . -newerct '1 minute ago' -print
List filenames ending in .mp3, searching in the current folder and all subfolders:
$ find . -name '*.mp3'
$ find . -name '*.mp3'
List filenames matching the name Alice or ALICE (case insensitive), search in the current folder (.) and all subfolders:
$ find . -iname 'alice' -print0
$ find . -iname 'alice' -print0
How To Search For File Type
List filenames matching the name Alice or ALICE (case insensitive), search in the current folder (.) only:
$ find . -maxdepth 1 -iname 'alice' -print0
$ find . -maxdepth 1 -iname 'alice' -print0
List filenames ending in .mp3, searching in the music folder and subfolders:
$ find ./music -name '*.mp3'
$ find ./music -name '*.mp3'
List files with the exact name: Sales_document.doc in ./work and subfolders:
$ find ./work -name Sales_document.doc
$ find ./work -name Sales_document.doc
List all the file links:
$ find . -type l
$ find . -type l
List all files that belong to the user Maude:
$ find . -user Maude -print0
$ find . -user Maude -print0
List all files (and subdirectories) in your home directory:
$ find $HOME
$ find $HOME
List all files in sub-directories (but not the directory names)
$ find . -type f
$ find . -type f
List all the directory and sub-directory names:
$ find . -type d
$ find . -type d
List all the empty directories:
$ find . -type d -empty
$ find . -type d -empty
Delete all empty directories, this will recurse the tree:
$ find . -type d -empty -delete
$ find . -type d -empty -delete
Search for every .app file (application package) including those not in the applications folder:
$ sudo find / -iname *.app
Apple System Information will have more details: version, and where the app was obtained from.
$ sudo find / -iname *.app
Apple System Information will have more details: version, and where the app was obtained from.
Find files that are over a gigabyte in size:
$ find ~/Movies -size +1024M
$ find ~/Movies -size +1024M
Find files that are over 1 GB but less than 20 GB in size:
$ find ~/Movies -size +1024M -size -20480M -print0
$ find ~/Movies -size +1024M -size -20480M -print0
Find all .DS_Store files in the current directory (.) and its subdirectories and DELETE them:
$ find . -name '*.DS_Store' -type f -delete
$ find . -name '*.DS_Store' -type f -delete
Find all .gif files, pipe to xargs to get the size and then pipe into tail to display only the grand total:
$ find . -iname '*.gif' -print0 | xargs -0 du -ch | tail -1
$ find . -iname '*.gif' -print0 | xargs -0 du -ch | tail -1
Find files have been modified within the last day:
$ find ~/Movies -mtime -1
$ find ~/Movies -mtime -1
Find files have been modified within the last 30 minutes:
$ find ~/Movies -mmin -30
$ find ~/Movies -mmin -30
Find .doc files that also start with 'questionnaire' (AND)
$ find . -name '*.doc' -name questionnaire*
$ find . -name '*.doc' -name questionnaire*
List all files beginning with 'memo' and owned by Maude (AND)
$ find . -name 'memo*' -user Maude
$ find . -name 'memo*' -user Maude
Find .doc files that do NOT start with 'Accounts' (NOT)
$ find . -name '*.doc' ! -name Accounts*
$ find . -name '*.doc' ! -name Accounts*
Find files named 'secrets' in or below the directory /tmp and delete them. Note that this will work incorrectly if there are any filenames containing newlines, single or double quotes, or spaces:
$ find /tmp -name secrets -type f -print | xargs /bin/rm -f
$ find /tmp -name secrets -type f -print | xargs /bin/rm -f
Find files named 'secrets' in or below the directory /tmp and delete them, processing filenames in such a way that file or directory names containing single or double quotes, spaces or newlines are correctly handled. The -name test comes before the -type test in order to avoid having to call stat on every file.
$ find /tmp -name secrets -type f -print0 | xargs -0 /bin/rm -f
$ find /tmp -name secrets -type f -print0 | xargs -0 /bin/rm -f
Run 'myapp' on every file in or below the current directory. Notice that the braces are enclosed in single quote marks to protect them from interpretation as shell script punctuation. The semicolon is similarly protected by the use of a backslash, though ';' could have been used in that case also.
find . -type f -exec myapp '{}' ;
Traverse the filesystem just once, listing setuid files and directories into /root/suid.txt and large files into /root/big.txt.
find / ( -perm -4000 -fprintf /root/suid.txt '%#m %u %pn' ) ,
( -size +100M -fprintf /root/big.txt '%-10s %pn' )
( -size +100M -fprintf /root/big.txt '%-10s %pn' )
Search for files in your home directory which have been modified in the last twenty-four hours. This command works this way because the time since each file was last modified is divided by 24 hours and any remainder is discarded. That means that to match -mtime 0, a file will have to have a modification in the past which is less than 24 hours ago.
find $HOME -mtime 0
Search for files which have read and write permission for their owner, and group, but which other users can read but not write to (664). Files which meet these criteria but have other permissions bits set (for example if someone can execute the file) will not be matched.
find . -perm 664
Search for files which have read and write permission for their owner and group, and which other users can read, without regard to the presence of any extra permission bits (for example the executable bit). This will match a file which has mode 0777, for example.
![Macos Search For File Type Command Line Macos Search For File Type Command Line](/uploads/1/2/6/5/126524917/764975814.png)
find . -perm -664
Search for files which are writable by somebody (their owner, or their group, or anybody else).
find . -perm /222
“We all have different desires and needs, but if we don't discover what we want from ourselves and what we stand for, we will live passively and unfulfilled” ~ Bill Watterson
Related macOS commands:
grep - Search file(s) for lines that match a given pattern.
ln - Make links between files (hard links, symbolic links).
ls - List information about file(s).
locate - Find files.
mdfind - Spotlight search.
rm - Remove files.
whereis - Locate a command.
which - Locate a program file in the user's path.
ln - Make links between files (hard links, symbolic links).
ls - List information about file(s).
locate - Find files.
mdfind - Spotlight search.
rm - Remove files.
whereis - Locate a command.
which - Locate a program file in the user's path.
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The Terminal app allows you to control your Mac using a command prompt. Why would you want to do that? Well, perhaps because you’re used to working on a command line in a Unix-based system and prefer to work that way. Terminal is a Mac command line interface. There are several advantages to using Terminal to accomplish some tasks — it’s usually quicker, for example. In order to use it, however, you’ll need to get to grips with its basic commands and functions. Once you’ve done that, you can dig deeper and learn more commands and use your Mac’s command prompt for more complex, as well as some fun, tasks.
Curated Mac apps that keep your Mac’s performance under control. Avoid Terminal commands, avoid trouble.
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How to open Terminal on Mac
The Terminal app is in the Utilities folder in Applications. To open it, either open your Applications folder, then open Utilities and double-click on Terminal, or press Command - spacebar to launch Spotlight and type 'Terminal,' then double-click the search result.
You’ll see a small window with a white background open on your desktop. In the title bar are your username, the word 'bash' and the dimensions of the window in pixels. Bash stands for 'Bourne again shell'. There are a number of different shells that can run Unix commands, and on the Mac Bash is the one used by Terminal.
If you want to make the window bigger, click on the bottom right corner and drag it outwards. If you don’t like the black text on a white background, go to the Shell menu, choose New Window and select from the options in the list.
If Terminal feels complicated or you have issues with the set-up, let us tell you right away that there are alternatives. MacPilot allows to get access to over 1,200 macOS features without memorizing any commands. Basically, a third-party Terminal for Mac that acts like Finder.
For Mac monitoring features, try iStat Menus. The app collects data like CPU load, disk activity, network usage, and more — all of which accessible from your menu bar.
Basic Mac commands in Terminal
The quickest way to get to know Terminal and understand how it works is to start using it. But before we do that, it’s worth spending a little time getting to know how commands work. To run a command, you just type it at the cursor and hit Return to execute.
Macos Search In Files
Every command is made up of three elements: the command itself, an argument which tells the command what resource it should operate on, and an option that modifies the output. So, for example, to move a file from one folder to another on your Mac, you’d use the move command 'mv' and then type the location of the file you want to move, including the file name and the location where you want to move it to.
Let’s try it.
-
Type cd ~/Documentsthen and press Return to navigate to your Home folder.
-
Type lsthen Return (you type Return after every command).
You should now see a list of all the files in your Documents folder — ls is the command for listing files.
To see a list of all the commands available in Terminal, hold down the Escape key and then press y when you see a question asking if you want to see all the possibilities. To see more commands, press Return.
Unix has its own built-in manual. So, to learn more about a command type man [name of command], where 'command' is the name of the command you want find out more about.
Terminal rules
There are a few things you need to bear in mind when you’re typing commands in Terminal, or any other command-line tool. Firstly, every character matters, including spaces. So when you’re copying a command you see here, make sure you include the spaces and that characters are in the correct case.
You can’t use a mouse or trackpad in Terminal, but you can navigate using the arrow keys. If you want to re-run a command, tap the up arrow key until you reach it, then press Return. To interrupt a command that’s already running, type Control-C.
Commands are always executed in the current location. So, if you don’t specify a location in the command, it will run wherever you last moved to or where the last command was run. Use the cdcommand, followed by a directory path, like in Step 1 above, to specify the folder where you want a command to run. https://skyeymillionaire.weebly.com/winebottler-for-macbook-pro-el-capitan.html.
There is another way to specify a location: go to the Finder, navigate to the file or folder you want and drag it onto the Terminal window, with the cursor at the point where you would have typed the path.
Here’s another example. This time, we’ll create a new folder inside your Documents directory and call it 'TerminalTest.'
-
Open a Finder window and navigate to your Documents folder.
-
Type cd and drag the Documents folder onto the Terminal window.
-
Now, type mkdir 'TerminalTest'
Go back to the Finder, open Text Edit and create a new file called 'TerminalTestFile.rtf'. Now save it to the TerminalTest folder in your Documents folder.
In the Terminal window, type cd ~/Documents/TerminalTest then Return. Now type lsand you should see 'TerminalTestFile' listed.
To change the name of the file, type this, pressing Return after every step:
-
cd~/Documents/Terminal Test
-
mv TerminalTestFile TerminalTestFile2.rtf
That will change the name of the file to 'TerminalTestFile2'. You can, of course, use any name you like. The mv command means 'move' and you can also use it to move files from one directory to another. In that case, you’d keep the file names the same, but specify another directory before typing the the second instance of the name, like this:
mv ~/Documents/TerminalTest TerminalTestFile.rtf ~/Documents/TerminalTest2 TerminalTestFile.rtf
More advanced Terminal commands
Terminal can be used for all sorts of different tasks. Some of them can be performed in the Finder, but are quicker in Terminal. Others access deep-rooted parts of macOS that aren’t accessible from the Finder without specialist applications. Here are a few examples.
Copy files from one folder to another
-
In a Terminal window, type ditto [folder 1] [folder 1] where 'folder 1' is the folder that hosts the files and 'folder 2' is the folder you want to move them to.
-
To see the files being copied in the Terminal window, type -v Amount to partition for mac x el capitan. after the command.
Download files from the internet
You’ll need the URL of the file you want to download in order to use Terminal for this.
-
cd ~/Downloads/
-
curl -O [URL of file you want to download]
Macos Search For File Type Command Line Free
If you want to download the file to a directory other than your Downloads folder, replace ~/Downloads/ with the path to that folder, or drag it onto the Terminal window after you type the cd command.
Change the default location for screenshots
If you don’t want macOS to save screenshots to your Desktop when you press Command-Shift-3, you can change the default location in Terminal
-
defaults write com.apple.screencapture location [path to folder where you want screenshots to be saved]
-
Hit Return
-
killall SystemUIServer
-
Hit Return
Change the default file type for screenshots
By default, macOS saves screenshots as .png files. To change that to .jpg, do this:
-
defaults write com.apple.screencapture type JPG
-
Press Return
-
killall SystemUIServer
-
Press Return
Delete all files in a folder
The command used to delete, or remove, files in Terminal is rm. So, for example, if you wanted to remove a file in your Documents folder named 'oldfile.rtf' you’d use cd ~/Documents to go to your Documents folder then to delete the file. As it stands, that will delete the file without further intervention from you. If you want to confirm the file to be deleted, use -i as in rm -i oldfile.rtf
To delete all the files and sub-folders in a directory named 'oldfolder', the command is rm -R oldfolder and to confirm each file should be deleted, rm -iR oldfolder
Just because you can use Terminal to delete files on your Mac, doesn’t mean you should. It’s a relatively blunt instrument, deleting only those files and folders you specify.
Another way to free up space
If your goal in removing files or folders is to free up space on your Mac, or to remove junk files that are causing your Mac to run slowly, it’s far better to use an app designed for the purpose. CleanMyMac X is one such app.
It will scan your Mac for files and recommend which ones you can delete safely, as well as telling you how much space you’ll save. And once you’ve decided which files to delete, you can get rid of them in a click. You can download CleanMyMac here.
As you can see, while Terminal may look scary and seem like it’s difficult to use, it really isn’t. The key is learning a few commands, such as those we’ve outlined above, and getting to know the syntax for those commands.
However, you should be careful when using Terminal, it’s a powerful tool that has deep access to your Mac’s system files. Check commands by googling them if you’re not sure what they do. And if you need to delete files to save space, use an app like CleanMyMac X to do it. It’s much safer!