List of macOS commands in tables categorized by tool types

mac_shell_commands.md

List of macOS commands in tables categorized by tool types. source

File and Directory Operations

Command	Description
cp	Copy files to another location
mv	Move or rename files or directories
rm	Remove files
mkdir	Create new folders
ls	List files
find	Search for files
locate	Find files by name
touch	Change file timestamps
chmod	Change access permissions
chown	Change file owner and group
ln	Make hard or symbolic links
lsregister	Reset the Launch Services database
stat	Display the status of a file
file	Determine file type
lsof	List open files

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Network Tools

Command	Description
ping	Test network connection
ifconfig	Configure network interface parameters
netstat	Show network status
curl	Transfer data from or to a server
ftp	Internet file transfer
nc or netcat	Read/write data across networks
ssh	Secure shell for remote login
scp	Secure copy files between hosts
dig	DNS lookup
ipconfig	View/control IP configuration state
networksetup	Configure network settings
traceroute	Trace route to host
tcpdump	Dump network traffic
airport	Manage Apple AirPort

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Process and Job Management

Command	Description
ps	Display process status
top	Display active processes
kill	Terminate a process by PID
killall	Terminate processes by name
fg	Move a job to the foreground
bg	Send a job to the background
jobs	List active jobs
disown	Unbind a job from the current session
wait	Wait for a process to complete
nice	Set priority of a command
nohup	Run a command immune to hangups

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Disk and Storage Utilities

Command	Description
diskutil	Disk utilities - Format, Verify, Repair
df	Display free disk space
du	Estimate file space usage
csrutil	Configure System Integrity Protection (SIP)
mount	Mount a filesystem
umount	Unmount a filesystem
fsck	Filesystem consistency check and repair
dd	Clone disks
nvram	Manipulate firmware variables
mdutil	Manage Spotlight metadata

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System Configuration and Information

Command	Description
system_profiler	Report system configuration
sw_vers	Print macOS version
hostname	Print or set system name
uptime	Show how long the system has been running
scutil	Manage system configuration parameters
pmset	Power management settings
launchctl	Load or unload daemons/agents
sysctl	Get or set kernel state
csrutil	Configure System Integrity Protection (SIP)
defaults	Set preferences

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Scripting and Shell Tools

Command	Description
alias	Create an alias
bash	Bourne-Again SHell
zsh	Z shell
awk	Find/replace text in file(s)
sed	Stream editor for file transformations
source	Execute commands from a file
env	List or set environment variables
echo	Display text on screen
read	Read a line from standard input
export	Set an environment variable
trap	Run commands on signal
shasum	Print/check SHA checksums

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Compression and Archiving

Command	Description
gzip	Compress/decompress files
bzip2	Compress/decompress files
tar	Archive files
zip	Package and compress files
unzip	Extract zip files
cpio	Copy files to and from archives

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Text Editors and Processing

Command	Description
nano	Simple text editor
vim	Advanced text editor
sed	Stream editor for transforming text
grep	Search for patterns in text
awk	Pattern scanning and processing language
tr	Translate/squeeze/delete characters
wc	Count words, lines, and characters in text
fmt	Reformat paragraph text

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Utility and Miscellaneous Tools

Command	Description
cal	Display a calendar
man	Display help for commands
bc	Arbitrary precision calculator
say	Convert text to audible speech
time	Measure program resource use
screen	Terminal multiplexer
open	Open files, folders, URLs, applications
osascript	Execute AppleScript
pbcopy	Copy text to the clipboard
pbpaste	Paste text from the clipboard