Terminal Tips and Tricks

One of the most individual and beneficial aspects of Apple computers is Terminal. This is an application located inside the 'Utilities' folder.  Here you can execute simple commands to perform tasks on your computer.

BASICS

So lets start of with some basic commands. First, lets navigate to any folder on your computer... say.. the 'Library' folder, found on all Macs.

cd /Macintosh HD/Library

This simple command can quickly open up any folder on the computer.

A LITTLE MORE COMPLICATED

Ok screw boring commands like this, lets get onto some more obscure lines of code.
Strangely on a Mac, it is very easy to view and edit the hidden files. All we need is a line of text in terminal.

defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles -bool TRUE

Then type this:

Killall Finder

Going into the Finder, you will notice many new files there. These are the so called 'Hidden' files. Of course, you may want to revert this, and so simply write the same code again, replacing 'TRUE' with 'FALSE' and then the 'Kilall' code again.

One of the most satisfying aspects of apple computers is the customisation. A neat little trick is to display a custom message when you login. Lets say you simply want to say 'Hey there!'

sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.loginwindow LoginwindowText "Hey there!"

To remove this message:

sudo defaults delete /Library/Preferences/com.apple.loginwindow LoginwindowText 

One of the most amusing commands is the simplest. You can make your mac speak to you. Simply put:

say "(whatever you would like your mac to say)"

Another nice command is:

defaults write com.apple.dock largesize -int 512


This changes the magnification of your dock to '512' and can prove to be pretty hilarious! I advise not to go past 512, but go ahead, give it a go...

The people who make Apple computers are renowned for their banter and so decided to create a way in which terminal could play Star Wars episode I.

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