If you want to do something with that 2nd file with the scary name, it's easy to just type:Īnd it will fill in all the junk necessary for you.įor the 3rd and 4th files, since their names are so similar you really just need to type out the full names. In the 2nd case, after typing those two unique letters and tabbing, the rest of the file name will be completed. Let's say you want to use the 'less' command to view the contents of aFile. For example, let's say you have a directory with the files: all it means is that when you've typed part of a word and then push 'tab', the shell will try to complete the rest of the word in an intelligent way. Tab-completion is really useful anywhere in the shell though. When you select that option, the file or folder path will be placed on your clipboard. Hold down the Option key, and you’ll see Copy change to Copy name as Pathname. Open Finder and right-click the file or folder to display the context menu.

Your default shell should be set up for tab-completion, which makes typing these ghastly escape sequences easier (i.e., helps to make all those backslashes). Another easy way to obtain a file path on Mac is with the context menu in Finder.

How to change directory on mac terminal