The shell is already installed on your computer. To access the shell, open the Terminal application by using the Launchpad or by browsing Applications > Utilities in Finder.
Special instructions for recent versions of MacOs
If you are using MacOS 10.15 or later ("Catalina", "Big Sur", or "Monterey"), you will need to give "Full Disk Access" permissions to the Terminal. If you're using an earlier version of MacOS, you can skip this section.
- Open the System Preferences app
- Select Security and Privacy
- Select the Privacy tab
- Click the Padlock icon in lower left-hand corner of the window. Enter your user name and password when prompted.
- In the left-hand box, scroll down until you find Full Disk Access and select it
- If Terminal.app is already listed in the right-hand box, check the box next to it
- If Terminal.app isn't listed in the right-hand box, add it:
- Click the + icon under the right-hand box
- Select the Applications folder. Within Applications, open the Utilities folder and select Terminal.app
- Click the Open button
- Locate Terminal.app in the right-hand box and check the box next to it
- Close System Preferences