macOS / Windows Terminal Reference

Orientation & Navigation

Location & Navigation

Orientation & Navigation

List & Discover

Get-ChildItem

List files and folders.

ls

Get-ChildItem -Force

Include hidden/system items.

ls -la

Get-ChildItem -Directory

List directories only.

find . -maxdepth 1 -type d

Get-ChildItem -File

List files only.

find . -maxdepth 1 -type f

Get-Command node

Find the command PowerShell will run.

command -v node

Get-Command node -All

Show all matching command definitions.

type -a node

Get-Help Get-ChildItem

Open built-in command help.

man ls

Get-Help command -Examples

Show command examples.

man command

Orientation & Navigation

History & Screen

Get-History

Show commands from the current PowerShell session.

history

Clear-History

Clear PowerShell session history.

history -p

Clear-Host

Clear the terminal display.

clear

$PSVersionTable

Show PowerShell version and platform details.

zsh --version

$HOME

Show the user's home-directory path.

echo $HOME

$PWD

Read the current PowerShell path object.

pwd

Orientation & Navigation

Open from Terminal

Invoke-Item .

Open the current directory in the default file manager.

open .

Invoke-Item file.pdf

Open a file with its default application.

open file.pdf

Start-Process https://example.com

Open a URL with the default browser.

open https://example.com

Start-Process code -ArgumentList '.'

Launch an installed application/CLI with arguments.

code .

Create, copy, move, rename, remove, inspect, and compare filesystem objects without leaving the terminal.

WINDOWS
PowerShell-first

PURPOSE
What the command does

macOS
zsh / Terminal

Windows | Purpose | macOS

02 — Files & Directories

Files & Directories

Create

New-Item -ItemType Directory folder

Create a directory.

mkdir folder

New-Item -ItemType Directory a/b -Force

Create a nested directory path.

mkdir -p a/b

New-Item -ItemType File file.txt

Create an empty file.

touch file.txt

Set-Content file.txt 'text'

Create or replace a text file with content.

printf '%s\n' 'text' > file.txt

Add-Content file.txt 'text'

Append text to a file.

printf '%s\n' 'text' >> file.txt

Files & Directories

Copy, Move & Rename

Copy-Item file.txt copy.txt

Copy a file.

cp file.txt copy.txt

Copy-Item folder dest -Recurse

Copy a directory tree.

cp -R folder dest

Move-Item old new

Move a file or folder.

mv old new

Rename-Item old.txt new.txt

Rename an item.

mv old.txt new.txt

Copy-Item *.txt dest

Copy files matching a wildcard.

cp *.txt dest

Files & Directories

Remove Carefully

Remove-Item file.txt

Delete a file.

rm file.txt

Remove-Item folder -Recurse

Delete a directory tree.

rm -r folder

Remove-Item folder -Recurse -Force

Force-remove a directory tree. Verify the path first.

rm -rf folder

Remove-Item *.tmp

Delete files matching a wildcard.

rm *.tmp

Get-ChildItem path

Inspect the target before a destructive command.

ls -la path

Files & Directories

Paths & Names

Split-Path path -Leaf

Return the final file/folder name.

basename path

Split-Path path -Parent

Return the parent-directory path.

dirname path

Resolve-Path path

Resolve a path to its full provider path.

realpath path

Test-Path path

Check whether a path exists.

test -e path

Join-Path parent child

Build a path from components.

printf '%s/%s\n' "$parent" "$child"

Files & Directories

File Metadata

Get-Item file | Format-List *

Inspect detailed file metadata.

stat file

(Get-Item file).Length

Get a file's size in bytes.

stat -f %z file

(Get-Item file).LastWriteTime

Show the last-modified time.

stat -f %Sm file

Get-ChildItem | Sort-Object Length -Descending

Sort directory items by size.

ls -lS

Inspect file content, search recursively, count and sort data, use pipelines, and redirect standard streams.

WINDOWS
PowerShell-first

PURPOSE
What the command does

macOS
zsh / Terminal

Windows | Purpose | macOS

03 — Read, Search & Transform Text

Read, Search & Transform Text

Read Files

Get-Content file.txt

Print a text file.

cat file.txt

Get-Content file.txt -Head 20

Show the first 20 lines.

head -n 20 file.txt

Get-Content file.txt -Tail 20

Show the last 20 lines.

tail -n 20 file.txt

Get-Content app.log -Wait

Follow a growing log file.

tail -f app.log

Get-Content file.txt -Raw

Read an entire text file as one string.

cat file.txt

Read, Search & Transform Text

Search Text

Select-String 'text' file.txt

Find matching text and line information.

grep -n 'text' file.txt

Get-ChildItem -Recurse -File | Select-String 'text'

Search text recursively through files.

grep -Rni 'text' .

Select-String 'error' *.log -CaseSensitive

Search matching files with case sensitivity.

grep -n 'error' *.log

Select-String '^TODO' file.txt

Search with a regular expression.

grep -n '^TODO' file.txt

Read, Search & Transform Text

Find Files

Get-ChildItem -Recurse -Filter *.js -File

Find files by name pattern.

find . -name '*.js' -type f

Get-ChildItem -Recurse -Directory

Find directories recursively.

find . -type d

Get-ChildItem -File | Where-Object LastWriteTime -gt (Get-Date).AddDays(-1)

Find files modified within the last day.

find . -type f -mtime -1

Get-ChildItem -Recurse -File | Where-Object Length -gt 10MB

Find files larger than a size threshold.

find . -type f -size +10M

Read, Search & Transform Text

Count, Sort & Group

(Get-Content file.txt).Count

Count lines in a text file.

wc -l file.txt

Get-ChildItem | Measure-Object

Count pipeline objects.

find . -maxdepth 1 | wc -l

Get-Content file.txt | Sort-Object

Sort lines.

sort file.txt

Get-Content file.txt | Sort-Object -Unique

Sort and remove duplicate lines.

sort -u file.txt

Get-Content file.txt | Group-Object

Group equal lines and count occurrences.

sort file.txt | uniq -c

Read, Search & Transform Text

Pipelines & Redirection

Get-Process | Sort-Object CPU

Pipe objects from one command into another.

ps aux | sort

command > file.txt

Overwrite a file with standard output.

command > file.txt

command >> file.txt

Append standard output to a file.

command >> file.txt

command 2> errors.txt

Redirect the error stream.

command 2> errors.txt

command *> all.txt

PowerShell: redirect all streams to one file.

command > all.txt 2>&1

PowerShell 7: a && b

Run the second command only if the first succeeds.

a && b

PowerShell 7: a || b

Run the second command only if the first fails.

a || b

Read, Search & Transform Text

Clipboard

Get-Clipboard

Read clipboard text.

pbpaste

'text' | Set-Clipboard

Copy pipeline text to the clipboard.

printf '%s' 'text' | pbcopy

Get-Content file.txt | Set-Clipboard

Copy file contents to the clipboard.

pbcopy < file.txt

Inspect and stop processes, identify port conflicts, check permissions, inspect system information, and manage disk usage.

WINDOWS
PowerShell-first

PURPOSE
What the command does

macOS
zsh / Terminal

Windows | Purpose | macOS

04 — Processes, Permissions & System

Processes, Permissions & System

Processes

Get-Process

List running processes.

ps aux

Get-Process -Id 1234

Inspect one process by PID.

ps -p 1234

Get-Process node

Find processes by executable/process name.

pgrep -fl node

Stop-Process -Id 1234

Request that a process stop.

kill 1234

Stop-Process -Id 1234 -Force

Force-stop a process; use as a last resort.

kill -9 1234

Start-Process app.exe

Start a process.

open -a 'App Name'

Processes, Permissions & System

Jobs & Background Work

Start-Job { command }

Start a PowerShell background job.

command &

Get-Job

List PowerShell background jobs.

jobs

Receive-Job id

Read output from a PowerShell job.

wait %job

Stop-Job id

Stop a PowerShell background job.

kill %job

Ctrl+C

Interrupt the foreground command.

Ctrl+C

Processes, Permissions & System

Ports

Get-NetTCPConnection -LocalPort 3000

Find TCP connections/listeners using a local port.

lsof -i :3000

Get-NetTCPConnection -State Listen

List listening TCP endpoints.

lsof -nP -iTCP -sTCP:LISTEN

Get-Process -Id PID

Inspect the process after identifying its PID.

ps -p PID

Stop-Process -Id PID

Stop the process causing a local port conflict.

kill PID

Processes, Permissions & System

Permissions & Ownership

Get-Acl path

Inspect access-control information.

ls -le path

icacls path

Display Windows file/folder ACLs.

ls -l path

icacls path /grant USER:F

Grant a Windows user full control; use carefully.

chmod u+rwx path

icacls path /inheritance:e

Enable inherited Windows permissions.

chmod -- reference needed; macOS uses POSIX/ACL inheritance differently

Start-Process PowerShell -Verb RunAs

Open an elevated PowerShell session.

sudo command

—

Change Unix executable permission; Windows executable permissions work differently.

chmod +x script.sh

—

Change Unix file owner; Windows uses ACL ownership tools instead.

sudo chown user file

Processes, Permissions & System

System Information

Get-ComputerInfo

Display broad operating-system and hardware information.

system_profiler SPSoftwareDataType SPHardwareDataType

systeminfo

Show Windows OS, memory, boot, and system details.

sw_vers

$env:PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE

Show the process architecture.

uname -m

Get-Date

Show the current local date and time.

date

Get-TimeZone

Show the configured time zone.

systemsetup -gettimezone

hostname

Show the machine hostname.

hostname

whoami

Show the current user identity.

whoami

Processes, Permissions & System

Disk & Storage

Get-PSDrive -PSProvider FileSystem

Show filesystem drives and free/used space.

df -h

Get-Volume

Show Windows volume information.

diskutil list

Get-ChildItem folder -Recurse -File | Measure-Object Length -Sum

Calculate total file bytes under a folder.

du -sh folder

Get-ChildItem folder | Sort-Object Length -Descending

Find larger items in a directory.

du -sh folder/* | sort -h

Work with environment variables, PATH, shell profiles, aliases, package managers, and terminal configuration.

WINDOWS
PowerShell-first

PURPOSE
What the command does

macOS
zsh / Terminal

Windows | Purpose | macOS

05 — Environment, Shell & Packages

Environment, Shell & Packages

Environment Variables

$env:NAME

Read one environment variable.

printenv NAME

$env:NAME = 'value'

Set an environment variable for the current shell session.

export NAME=value

Remove-Item Env:NAME

Remove a session environment variable.

unset NAME

Get-ChildItem Env:

List environment variables.

printenv | sort

$env:PATH

Show the executable search path.

echo $PATH

$env:PATH -split ';'

Display Windows PATH entries individually.

printf '%s\n' ${PATH//:/ }

Environment, Shell & Packages

Profiles & Shell Configuration

$PROFILE

Show the current PowerShell profile path.

echo ~/.zshrc

Test-Path $PROFILE

Check whether the PowerShell profile exists.

test -f ~/.zshrc

notepad $PROFILE

Edit the PowerShell profile with Notepad.

nano ~/.zshrc

. $PROFILE

Reload the PowerShell profile in the current session.

source ~/.zshrc

pwsh

Start PowerShell 7 if installed.

exec zsh

Environment, Shell & Packages

Aliases & Functions

Get-Alias

List PowerShell aliases.

alias

Get-Alias ls

See which command an alias resolves to.

type ls

Set-Alias ll Get-ChildItem

Create a session alias.

alias ll='ls -lah'

Remove-Item Alias:ll

Remove a session alias.

unalias ll

function Name { ... }

Define a reusable shell function.

Name() { ...; }

Environment, Shell & Packages

Windows Package Manager / Homebrew

winget search package

Search the OS package manager.

brew search package

winget install ID

Install a package.

brew install package

winget list

List installed packages known to the package manager.

brew list

winget upgrade

Show packages with upgrades available.

brew outdated

winget upgrade --all

Upgrade supported installed packages.

brew upgrade

winget uninstall ID

Remove a package.

brew uninstall package

winget source update

Refresh package-source metadata.

brew update

Environment, Shell & Packages

Command Resolution

Get-Command name

Show which executable/function/alias will run.

command -v name

Get-Command name -All

Show all command matches PowerShell can resolve.

type -a name

where.exe name

Search Windows PATH for matching executable files.

which -a name

Get-Command name | Format-List *

Inspect command type, source, path, and metadata.

type name

Diagnose networking, test HTTP and ports, use SSH, compress files, and apply a fast terminal troubleshooting loop.

WINDOWS
PowerShell-first

PURPOSE
What the command does

macOS
zsh / Terminal

Windows | Purpose | macOS

06 — Network, Remote, Archives & Recovery

Network, Remote, Archives & Recovery

Network Identity & DNS

ipconfig

Show Windows IP configuration.

ifconfig

Get-NetIPAddress

List Windows IP addresses and interfaces.

ipconfig getifaddr en0

Test-Connection host

Send ICMP echo requests.

ping host

Resolve-DnsName example.com

Resolve DNS records.

dig example.com

nslookup example.com

Run a traditional DNS lookup.

nslookup example.com

Get-NetRoute

Inspect the Windows routing table.

netstat -rn

Network, Remote, Archives & Recovery

Ports & Connectivity

Test-NetConnection host -Port 443

Test whether a TCP port is reachable.

nc -vz host 443

Get-NetTCPConnection -LocalPort 5173

Find the process endpoint using a development port.

lsof -i :5173

Test-NetConnection host -TraceRoute

Trace the network path where supported.

traceroute host

Get-NetAdapter

List Windows network adapters.

networksetup -listallhardwareports

Network, Remote, Archives & Recovery

HTTP

curl.exe URL

Send a basic HTTP GET request using curl.

curl URL

curl.exe -I URL

Request response headers only.

curl -I URL

curl.exe -L URL

Follow HTTP redirects.

curl -L URL

curl.exe -o file URL

Download response content to a file.

curl -o file URL

Invoke-WebRequest URL

PowerShell-native web request with structured response information.

curl -i URL

Invoke-RestMethod URL

PowerShell-native request that parses common structured API responses.

curl URL

Network, Remote, Archives & Recovery

SSH & Secure Copy

ssh user@host

Open an SSH session when OpenSSH is installed.

ssh user@host

ssh-keygen -t ed25519

Create an Ed25519 SSH key pair.

ssh-keygen -t ed25519

ssh-add path\to\key

Add a private key to the SSH authentication agent.

ssh-add ~/.ssh/id_ed25519

scp file user@host:/path

Copy a file over SSH.

scp file user@host:/path

scp -r folder user@host:/path

Copy a directory recursively over SSH.

scp -r folder user@host:/path

ssh -T git@github.com

Test SSH authentication to GitHub.

ssh -T git@github.com

Network, Remote, Archives & Recovery

Fast Troubleshooting Loop

Get-Location; Get-ChildItem -Force

Confirm the current project/location and visible files.

pwd && ls -la

Get-Command tool

Confirm a required command is installed and resolvable.

command -v tool

$PSVersionTable

Confirm shell/runtime environment when shell behavior is unexpected.

echo $SHELL; zsh --version

Get-ChildItem Env:

Inspect environment configuration.

printenv | sort

Get-NetTCPConnection -LocalPort PORT

Check for a local port conflict.

lsof -i :PORT

Test-NetConnection localhost -Port PORT

Test whether a local TCP service is reachable.

nc -vz localhost PORT

curl.exe -I http://localhost:PORT

Confirm that a local HTTP server responds.

curl -I http://localhost:PORT

Network, Remote, Archives & Recovery

High-Risk Commands

Remove-Item path -Recurse -Force

Can permanently delete a directory tree. Verify the exact path.

rm -rf path

Stop-Process -Id PID -Force

Force termination can lose unsaved state; use only when normal stop fails.

kill -9 PID

icacls path /grant ...

Permission changes can expose or lock out files; inspect ACLs first.

chmod / chown

winget upgrade --all

Bulk upgrades can change many installed tools; review before running.

brew upgrade

Elevated PowerShell

Administrator/root commands can alter the whole system.

sudo command

Network, Remote, Archives & Recovery

Keyboard Recall

Ctrl+C

Interrupt the foreground command.

Ctrl+C

Tab

Complete commands and paths.

Tab

Up / Down

Move through command history.

Up / Down

Ctrl+L

Clear/redraw the screen in shells that support it.

Ctrl+L

Ctrl+R

Reverse-search history when PSReadLine/shell bindings support it.

Ctrl+R