Remember: After typing in each command, you’ll have to hit the return button for the command to take hold. Here are a few useful commands to know, and make sure to copy the exact phrasing and spacing below into your commands:

Open an application:

Open -a APPLICATION

This Terminal Command Opens Itunes

Or, if the application has a space in its name:

Open -a “APPLICATION NAME”

Open a file using the default application:

For this, you’ll have to know the command pathway for the file you want to access. To do so, you can either drag the file to the Terminal window to add to the line, or right click the file and select “Copy [NAME]” and then use the Command+V shortcut to paste it into the Terminal. Even though the latter appears to only copy the actual file name, it actually captures the full pathway. In either case, hit the spacebar following the app name and then the command would take hold.

Open [FILE PATHWAY]

Open a file using an application you specify:

Again, you’ll need the file pathway to use this command.

Open -a “APP NAME” [FILE PATHWAY]

Open a text-based file using the text editor:

Note that the file pathway is also fundamental here.

Open -a Text Edit [FILE PATHWAY]

If you need to get to your Terminal’s settings, hold down the command key while tapping the comma button. And, in case you want to stop a command you’ve input, you can do that by tapping the window (if it isn’t already selected) and holding down the “control” key and hitting “c.” Or, if you want to repeat a command, simply use the up arrow key to cycle through previously used commands and, when you see the one you want, press “return.”

Don’t worry if you make a mistake in your command pathways: You’ll just get a message back saying something along the lines of, “No such file or directory exists.”

Drag and Drop into the Mac Terminal:

To save time and prevent redundant typing one can simply drag and drop a file into terminal and it will automatically type out the location and file name for you.