How to Fix Command Not Found Errors in Mac Command Line

How to Fix Command Not Found Errors in Mac Command Line

How to Fix Command Not Found Errors in Mac Command Line

Advanced Mac users that utilize the command line may occasionally encounter a command not found error message when attempting to run something in the command line. The command not found error in the Terminal can surface for several reasons in the command line of MacOS and Mac OS X, as well discuss here, and of course well offer solutions to these issues.

The three most common reasons why you may see the command not found message in the Mac command line are as follows: Fortunately you can solve all of these issues and get the common working again as expected. Well start off with the most common reason, which is that the users $PATH is not set properly, or was reset somehow. The most likely reason why Mac users may unexpectedly see the command not found message in the command line is something went awry with the users $PATH, or the path where the command is located is not set.

How to Fix Command Not Found Errors in Mac Command Line

You can if you feel like it, otherwise you can just run the following commands to set the standard default path that Mac OS uses in the command line: Hit return and run your command again, it should work fine. By the way, even though were focusing on Mac OS here, this same idea applies to other unix and linux varieties as well.

Note if the intended command youre attempting to use is located in a nonstandard directory or in another location (/usr/local/sbin/ etc), you can always to specify where to look if needed. Before, where the command not found message shows up running simple commands line ls and cd: After, with those commands working successfully as expected: How does this happen? Sometimes it can be running an incomplete or incorrect export $PATH command, a failure of , amongst other reasons.

You may need to refresh the command line shell for the change to take effect. If you relaunch the Terminal and get the command not found error again, then add the export $PATH commands to the users .bash_profile, .profile, or relevant shell profile if in the Terminal app. If the command just isnt installed on the Mac, for common examples like that are not otherwise preinstalled in Mac OS, then the simplest solution is to to gain access to those command line utilities.

How to Fix Command Not Found Errors in Mac Command Line

Homebrew is a great tool anyway, so if youre going to be spending time in the Terminal youll probably want it. Every once in a while, Mac users may find themselves in a situation where they . Usually this happens when someone is experimenting with the rm/srm commands and a wildcard, or maybe they became overly zealous with the Trash can when logged in as root.

In any event, you can it usually involves restoring from a backup or reinstalling the system software itself. Do you know of another reason why you may see the command not found error message in Mac OS Terminal? Maybe you have a better solution than what is offered above? Share with us in the comments below!

How to Fix Command Not Found Errors in Mac Command Line