Mac’s Terminal application is a very powerful tool that can do many things. If you ever find yourself without a mouse, or you just find it more convenient and prefer to do things from Terminal, you might want to know how to open an application such as Finder from Terminal.
Opening Finder from Terminal is very straightforward. It only requires you to find the path of the Finder application and then run the open command. Finder will then start up on your desktop, and that’s all there is to it.
My name is Eric, and I use command line interfaces like Terminal on a daily basis. Performing tasks like opening Finder from Terminal are things I do all the time, and I would love to share my knowledge with you.
Keep reading below if you would like to see how to do this.
Contents
Start Finder from Terminal
I won’t waste any time before getting to this one. Follow the steps below to open Finder with Mac’s Terminal application.
Step 1: Open Terminal
Use Launchpad or whatever method you prefer to start up the Terminal application.
Step 2: Get the Location of the Finder.app
For most recent macOS systems, the Finder application will be located at /System/Library/CoreServices/Finder.app. If this is not the case for your system, you will need to find the path where Finder.app is located. You can use the command below.
find / -name Finder.app 2>/dev/null
Step 3: Open the Application
Now that you have the path of Finder.app, you need to use the open command with that path and application name. Just type the command as shown below, or type the open command and copy and paste the path from the find command used above.
open /System/Library/CoreServices/Finder.app
This will open the Finder application on your desktop.
FAQ
Below are a few questions that are commonly asked when discussing the topic of opening Finder on Mac from Terminal.
Can I continue using Terminal once Finder is opened?
Yes, once Finder is open, Terminal will continue working as it was before. You can keep using it for whatever else you need to use it for, and it will not be affected by the Finder application.
Will Finder close if I close Terminal?
No, once Finder has opened on your desktop, it will remain open until you close the Finder application. If you close the Terminal application, it will not affect Finder.
Can I open other applications using the open command?
Yes, you definitely can. If you find the path to the other application, just use the open command the same way we have used it above with Finder. You can also open files with their default application using the open command. Just type open and the file path and name, and it will be opened with whatever application would normally open it.
Conclusion
Opening Finder on Mac from Terminal is a relatively simple task that almost anyone can do. The most challenging part is finding the path of Finder.app if it is not already located in the standard place shown above. Once you have the path, it is just a matter of plugging it into the open command.
Please let me know if you have any questions or comments about opening Finder from Terminal. I would love to hear from you!
