Questions tagged [macos]
Apple's Unix-based operating system. Use for questions about the operating system or to provide OS context. For Mac hardware questions, use [mac]. Questions about using macOS on non-Apple hardware ("Hackintosh"), are off-topic.
22,090
questions
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macOS keeps asking my ssh passphrase since I updated to Sierra
It used to remember the passphrase, but now it's asking it to me each time.
I've read that I need to regenerate the public key with this command, which I did:
ssh-keygen -y -f id_rsa > id_rsa.pub
...
- 7,701
646
votes
7
answers
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Permissions on private key in .ssh folder?
I changed my permissions in my .ssh folder and now when I use a piece of software that uses my private key, I have to type my password each time. What should my permissions be on my id_rsa file to ...
Jody G
471
votes
14
answers
391k
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Mac OS X equivalent of the Ubuntu "tree" command
Is there an equivalent to the Ubuntu tree command for Mac OS X?
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433
votes
19
answers
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How to encode base64 via command line in macOS/OS X?
Is there a terminal command in macOS/OS X which will base64 encode a file or stdin?
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403
votes
10
answers
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In Mac OS, what is the keyboard shortcut to switch between windows of the same application?
I often use the Cmd+Tab shortcut to switch between different applications (for example: Xcode and Google Chrome), but is there a shortcut to switch between different windows of the same application (...
- 7,144
376
votes
22
answers
608k
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Move an off-screen window back on-screen on Mac OS X
It seems that Mac OS X 10.6.1 Snow Leopard has a tendency to leave some windows off-screen at times, especially when I disconnect an external monitor from my MacBook. How can I move the window back on-...
- 5,390
365
votes
17
answers
943k
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"Show desktop" keyboard shortcut in Mac OS X
I am using a MacBook Pro with Mac OS X 10.5. Is there a similar function to "show desktop" (shortcut is WIN+D) on a Mac?
It should hide all applications and show a clean desktop.
- 5,079
331
votes
9
answers
635k
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How can I extract .rar files on the Mac?
How can I extract RAR files in macOS? The built-in Archive Utility only supports ZIP.
Is there anything else, built-in or third-party, that also supports RAR?
I don't mind whether it's Terminal-only ...
- 6,674
322
votes
6
answers
216k
views
How do you prevent the dock from switching monitors in macOS Monterey?
In Mavericks, Apple introduced a "feature" where if you hover at the bottom of any screen the dock pops up on that screen.
This is disrupting my workflow as I am constantly having the dock ...
- 3,445
309
votes
10
answers
951k
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How do I find a file by filename in Mac OSX terminal?
I want to find a file on my Macbook with the filename: abc.dmg. I've tried to use spotlight, but it doesn't find it. When I tried find, and used: find -name abc.dmg -path /, I got errors back.
What ...
- 7,812
295
votes
5
answers
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What's the equivalent of Linux's updatedb command for the Mac?
If I want to use the locate command on a Linux machine, I usually run sudo updatedb first to update the database. I can run the locate command on OS X 10.5 but I can't find updatedb. What's the ...
- 4,397
294
votes
24
answers
220k
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Command-line application for converting SVG to PNG on Mac OS X
Are there any command-line programs that can convert an SVG to PNG that run on macOS?
- 4,477
266
votes
27
answers
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What can I do to stop the Play / Pause button from opening iTunes?
In Snow Leopard the Play / Pause media button (on the F8 key) opens up iTunes. How can I disable that? Preferably keeping the old Leopard behaviour, so I can use it to control other media applications ...
264
votes
4
answers
324k
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How can I install 7zip so I can run it from Terminal on OS X
I would like to be able to run 7zip from the command line on Mac. Does anyone have instructions on how to set this up?
- 5,084
264
votes
13
answers
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Is there a fix for the "Too many open files in system" error on OS X 10.7.1?
I need to get rid of the pesky "Too many open files in system" limit on OS X 10.7.1.
Is there a way?
- 2,657
258
votes
5
answers
385k
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How to find files with certain text in the Terminal
I'd like to find all files that contain a certain string of text. How would you do that in the Terminal?
- 39.9k
254
votes
10
answers
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Mac OS X: Best Way to Make an ISO from a CD or DVD
Both command-line and screen-oriented pointers appreciated!
update:
I verified the disk utility, hdiutil, and dd methods. dd seems the fastest, 30 minutes on my macbook pro vs. 40 minutes for ...
251
votes
10
answers
205k
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Is there any program or way to make Mac OS X's ⌘-Tab behave like Windows' Alt-Tab? [closed]
Is there any program or way to make Mac OS X's ⌘Tab(Command-Tab) behave like Windows' AltTab?
That is, instead of switching between applications, to switch between windows of all applications?
I do ...
- 11.2k
247
votes
15
answers
337k
views
Looking for HTTP debugging proxy for Mac similar to Fiddler on Windows [closed]
In previous jobs when I've worked on a Windows machine, I've used Fiddler for viewing HTTP transactions and debugging.
I'm specifically looking to monitor the HTTP transactions for an ajax site I'm ...
244
votes
3
answers
60k
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Why are tar.xz files 15x smaller when using Python's tar library compared to macOS tar?
Context
I'm compressing ~1.3 GB folders each filled with 1440 JSON files and find that there's a 15-fold difference between using the tar command and Python's built-in tarfile library on macOS or ...
- 5,792
243
votes
4
answers
315k
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How to add user to a group from Mac OS X command line?
I am trying to add a user to a group from the command line but can't figure out how. Specifically this is on Mac OS X Server version 10.5.8.
The user is 'john', the groups are 'admin' and 'wheel'.
- 6,987
236
votes
3
answers
97k
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How can I remove outdated installed versions of Homebrew packages?
How can I remove outdated versions of Homebrew packages that are installed side-by-side with current versions?
- 9,428
226
votes
4
answers
211k
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What is “__MACOSX” folder I keep seeing in Zip files made by people on OS X?
What are these __MACOSX folders I keep seeing in Zip files made by people on OS X? Some take as much as 30% of the file.
What program are producing these __MACOSX folder and how can mac users avoid ...
- 2,501
212
votes
4
answers
203k
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200
votes
8
answers
171k
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Why does terminal say: "You have mail"?
Any idea why my Mac terminal says:
You have mail in /var/mail/lofye
How can I make it stop saying that every time I open terminal?
- 2,341
192
votes
5
answers
316k
views
Compress files from OS X terminal?
In the Finder, there is this wonderful ability to right click on a file or directory, select compress from the drop-down, and end up with a zipped file.
Is it possible to do the same thing from the ...
- 4,853
192
votes
5
answers
93k
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What's like OSX's pbcopy for Linux
In a terminal in OSX I can pipe output to pbcopy and then go into a web browser and paste it. I tried this in Linux with xcopy but when I switch to the browser it just overwrites the clipboard with ...
- 14.5k
190
votes
10
answers
110k
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Keyboard shortcut to unhide or unminimize a window in OS X
I know how to Hide (Cmd+H) or Minimize (Cmd+M) a focused window in OS X, but I can't find a keyboard shortcut or even a menu item to restore, unhide, unminimize, or otherwise show a window that I've ...
- 2,215
182
votes
24
answers
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Is there a way to move the current window to another desktop without using a mouse in OS X?
In OS X as I'm aware to move the current window to the next desktop, I'd click down on the title bar of the window to have it in move mode, and then while keeping the mouse button down, press Ctrl+&...
aryeh
177
votes
5
answers
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How to find out Mac OS X version from Terminal?
I know how to find Mac OS X version from GUI:
Apple Menu (top left) > About This Mac
Is there a Terminal command that will tell me Mac OS X version?
- 4,837
173
votes
7
answers
491k
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How to uninstall Homebrew?
I’ve got some problems with the package manager, Homebrew. I can’t find how to remove it!
Is it safe to remove whole /usr/local? Homebrew was installed somewhere in that directory.
- 3,287
166
votes
5
answers
1.2m
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Where is the .zshrc file on Mac?
I’m using iTerm and wanted to customize the look of my terminal window using Oh My ZSH!. And according to the documentation I need to change the ~/.zshrc file and add a ZSH_THEME value:
Once you ...
- 2,615
165
votes
3
answers
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Case insensitive tab completion in Bash
Is there any way to make Bash tab complete case insensitively?
$ bash --version
GNU bash, version 3.2.48(1)-release (x86_64-apple-darwin10.0)
Copyright (C) 2007 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
I am ...
- 2,488
163
votes
10
answers
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How to use Mac OS X Keychain with SSH keys?
I understand that since Mac OS X Leopard the Keychain has supported storing SSH keys. Could someone please explain how this feature is supposed to work.
I have some RSA keys that I've generated ...
- 1,778
163
votes
16
answers
290k
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What keyboard shortcuts move, resize, and maximize windows under Mac OS X?
I just checked http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_of_keyboard_shortcuts but the following "Window management" entries are blank for Mac OS X:
Move the focused window
Resize the focused window
...
- 3,447
162
votes
11
answers
62k
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How to tab between buttons on an Mac OS X dialog box
I know that there has been a similar question asked here very recently, but I was wondering if it was possible to tab between buttons on default Mac OS X dialog boxes?
I already have the All controls ...
- 1,775
162
votes
13
answers
413k
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How do I view my clipboard history on OS X?
I am often copying and pasting various tidbits of information, and then forgetting to save it. I would copy something else and lose what I had in the clipboard before.
Is there some sort of built-in ...
- 21.3k
161
votes
3
answers
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On OS X, why does `sudo ls` show hidden (dot) files?
With OS X Yosemite, using the following commands, I get the following:
$ touch .a
$ touch b
$ /bin/ls
b
$ /bin/ls -A
.a b
$ sudo /bin/ls
.a b
It shows hidden files (that have names starting with a ...
- 2,882
160
votes
3
answers
88k
views
Git on Mac: How to set Nano as the default text editor?
When I'm using Git on Mac and need to do a rebase, the Vim editor kicks in by default. I would prefer Nano – could someone please explain how to reconfigure Git to make it use Nano for rebase?
Dimitri Vorontzov
158
votes
9
answers
521k
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How can I scan the local network for connected devices in Mac OS?
I'm basically looking for something like this but available on Mac. I am using Mac OS X 10.6.
I am trying to connect a new workstation to our wireless multifunction printer and I'm having a hell of a ...
- 6,305
157
votes
8
answers
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How can I get control+left arrow to go back one word in iTerm2?
I was reading up in the Linux manual and I noticed that it said I could use control+left and control+right to move forward and back words in the terminal while editing.
"Pressing Ctrl plus the Left ...
- 18.2k
153
votes
2
answers
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How do you re-install a package with Homebrew (Mac)?
Struggling to find good Homebrew documentation (or tutorial)...
In the mean time I need to reinstall ImageMagick that was installed with Homebrew (brew install imagemagick) and not sure if I should ...
- 6,987
151
votes
5
answers
177k
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How to selectively route network traffic through VPN on Mac OS X Leopard?
I don't want to send all my network traffic down to VPN when I'm connected to my company's network (via VPN) from home. For example, when I'm working from home, I would like to be able to backup all ...
- 1,613
146
votes
4
answers
214k
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Command to unlock "Locked" files on OS X
I copied a lot of read-only files from a Windows system to my Mac. When viewing the Info for each file using "Get Info", I can see they are Locked. I'm writing a bash script to copy over some files ...
- 4,081
145
votes
8
answers
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Where does $PATH get set in OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard?
I type echo $PATH on the command line and get
/opt/local/bin:/opt/local/sbin:/Users/andrew/bin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/local/mysql/bin:/usr/local/pear/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/...
- 15.1k
145
votes
12
answers
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Enter to open a file in Finder
I find the Cmd + O shortcut to open a file in Finder unintuitive. Does anyone know how to change it? I'd like to set it so that enter opens a file instead of going into rename mode.
- 1,612
143
votes
11
answers
106k
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Copy-on-select, paste-on-middle-click on Mac OS X?
Is there a way to give OS X the usual X-windows behavior where selecting text in any application automatically copies it to the clipboard, and the middle mouse button automatically pastes it?
+C, +V ...
- 2,077
142
votes
14
answers
284k
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How to minimize all windows in macOS?
I am a recent refugee from Windows land (at least on one of my PCs).
One thing I really miss in macOS is the ability to minimize all windows.
I can't seem to find the shortcut that does it, or even a ...
- 18.7k
142
votes
1
answer
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In macOS, how often is /tmp deleted?
How often is /tmp deleted? I thought it was cleaned out boot time and every three days if you don't reboot, but I can't find any authoritative source for this.
I'm running the latest 10.6. (I suppose ...
- 1,681
139
votes
6
answers
337k
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How do I check what DNS server I'm using (on Mac OS X)
In Mac OS X, how do I check what DNS server I'm currently using (preferably a command line solution)?
System Preferences > Network shows 192.168.1.1, which is my router's address and not the real ...
- 1,905